A bust of Cumbrian fell runner Joss Naylor will go under the hammer to raise money for Wasdale Mountain Rescue.

Mitchell’s Auction Company of Cockermouth will do the charity auction for the sculpture in their Antiques and Fine Art sale on September 11, 12 and 13, with a guide price of £500 – £800.

Details of the bust can be found in the auction catalogue here.

Joss Naylor was the Honorary Vice President of the Wasdale Mountain Rescue team and officially opened the team’s new base outside Gosforth in 2018, conducting the ribbon cutting ceremony in his own unique style using sheep shearers and baler twine.

In 2008 renowned Cumbrian born professional sculptor Paul Bainbridge created two bronze resin sculptures of the head of fell running legend Joss Naylor to celebrate Joss’s achievement of running 70 Lake District fells on his 70th birthday.

One of the sculptures was purchased by Copeland Council to take a place of honour in The Beacon Museum, Whitehaven.

The other sculpture was retained by Paul who, on hearing the sad news of the death of Joss, has donated the second sculpture to raise money for Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team.

Paul Bainbridge, born in Egremont, Cumbria, studied at Carlisle College of Art before going on to train as a teacher at Hornsey College of Art.

In 1990 he became a freelance portrait sculptor with Madame Tussaud’s where he spent 12 years creating wax sculptures of many famous people, leaving in 2002 to focus his attention on creating his own sculptures, most of which are concerned with the human face or figure.

While at Madame Tussaud’s in 1993 Bainbridge was elected to membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors, as it was then.