Oss Odyssey: Update

Linzi Stauvers, Ikon Artistic Director of Education and Tom Hicks (Black Country Type) 

Having located nine of Kevin Atherton’s Iron Horses (1987) – a series of sculptures along the railway track between Wolverhampton and Birmingham – Ikon issued a public call in November 2025 for the missing parts. We received some wonderful messages – including from a welder, academic, commuter, train driver, artist and transport correspondent – offering information on horses no. 2, 5 and 12.   

The first message came from Mike Dennis:

“I was the person who fabricated them from Kevin’s drawings. Unfortunately, I don’t have records of their locations even though I was involved in the installation. Angus McDonald of C’ART provided the transport to site (apart from the horse we loaded into a narrow boat and transported by canal).” 

Footage of Mike cutting the horses, from 8 ft x 12 ft steel plate, at the Corley Welders, Digbeth, is available in the BBC archive. 

For Dr Jen Gilbert, the Iron Horses were a feature of her childhood, growing up in Coseley in the 80s and 90s. Jen knew that one of those horses had gone missing, but had recently reappeared on the station platform.    

“I recall my grandparents and I playing a game where we would count the horses from Coseley to Birmingham New St. I now live in Sheffield and the horses are a clear sign that I’ve made it home.” 

It was whilst commuting between Birmingham and Wolverhampton that Ian Aston’s interest was piqued by the artwork. In 2007, to coincide with their 20th anniversary, he decided to find and photograph the full set. Having sent through the coordinates for two of missing sculptures, Ian noted: 

“I found 11 horses in situ at that time. Horse 12, which from looking at the picture in Kevin’s book should be fairly easy to see, eluded me. It is fair to say that Horse 12 was destroyed or moved prior to 2007.”  

Since becoming an Avanti West Coast train driver four years ago, Caroline Spence has enjoyed catching a glimpse of the horses on the station platforms. Having read the Ikon blog, it is now her “mission to try and find them all”.   

“The good news is, I have located your missing number 5. It’s on the left hand side of travel going south, just before Sandwell and Dudley station. You’ll have the best chance of seeing it if you get on a train that stops at Sandwell and look left as the train slows down for the station. It’s a bit easier now that Network Rail have cut back some vegetation!” 

Artist Reza Arabpour emailed to say – “I created an homage to Kevin Atherton’s Iron Horses after writing an article on him and them during lockdown. I had always been in love with the Birmingham New Street addition, and upon discovering years later that it was one of 12 (in fact 13 in the end) I became fascinated and had to know more. After talking a few times over the phone with Mr Atherton, I decided to create this to represent a throwback to his inspiration from Eadward Muybridge’s The Horse in Motion (1878).”

At the start of 2026, we received a call from Peter Plisner, former BBC Midlands Transport Correspondent, who was in the process of making his own film about the Iron Horses for his new channel, Transport Matters. Having done some research online, Peter was confident that he had located horses no. 2 and 5.  

On 24 February 2026, Kevin travelled up to the Midlands to be reunited with the Iron Horses. A small group of us, including Leah Atherton, West Midlands Trains Alliance Project Manager, set off to find the escaped horses.  

Horse no.2. Found: The second Iron Horse is where it was supposed to be, on the former site of Bilston Steelworks, before Coseley Station (approached on the left). However, in 40 years, a small woodland has grown around the horse, making it invisible to passing trains. Access was not possible as it is sandwiched between the railway track and Network Rail high fence.  

Horse no.5. Found: As the satellite imagery suggests, horse no. 5 is still standing on a stretch of industrial estate parallel to the railway line in Sandwell. With permission from the owner of Granite UK – who was surprised to find himself the custodian of a horse – we were able to see the artwork from behind the Network Rail fence. As the foliage has been cut back, Tom was able to get a photo from the other side of the track.

Horse no.12. Missing: The search continues…

Following a round of steak and kidney puddings at Mad O’Rourke’s Pie Factory, Peter interviewed Kevin at horse no. 3. In the video, he raises the question of missing horse no. 12, and the original no. 7 horse that was replaced by the horse at Birmingham New Street in the early 90s. 

With thanks to Peter’s video – which has received over 4K views – we are continuing to work with the railway sector to plan the restoration of Iron Horses in time for their 40th anniversary in 2027.