Sculptress JOEL is pictured with the bronze sculpture of Ruswarp, and her own cavalier king charles spaniel Chloe

An effigy of a heroic dog who stayed at his dead master’s side for 11 weeks on a Welsh hillside has been unveiled on England’s most scenic railway.

Ruswarp, a border collie, was carried off the hill, too weak to walk, by mountain rescuers but survived only long enough to attend his owner’s funeral. Now, a bronze sculpture of the dog sits on a station on the Settle and Carlisle line, which the collie was instrumental in saving from closure.

The statue was unveiled at Garsdale station, near the summit of the line in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales national park.

As grough reported last April, the dog’s owner Graham Nuttall, a keen fellwalker, was a fervent campaigner against the proposal to close the railway, and in 1989 the line was reprieved. Ruswarp, as a user of the line, put in an official objection to the closure, complete with his pawprint.

Mr Nuttall went missing in mid-Wales in 1990 and his body was found, with the dog alongside it, having endured almost three winter months on the hill.

Mr Nuttall with Ruswarp at the time of the campaign

Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line commissioned sculptress JOEL to produce the statue, which was unveiled in a ceremony at the isolated station which stands between Dent and Kirkby Stephen. The artist took her own dog Chloe to the unveiling.

Speaking after the event, JOEL told grough: “We had fine weather and there were over three hundred and fifty people at the event and many wonderful comments on the collie sculpture.

“It has been a privilege to be part of the project to commemorate Ruswarp and his owner Graham Nuttall and all those who have helped save the Settle to Carlisle Railway line from closure twenty years ago.

“The line gives easy access to some special hill walking – Chloe and I have been able to have some lovely times on the hills and in the Dales and I am pleased to say dogs go free on the Settle to Carlisle Line.

“The sculpture is of a seated Ruswarp on guard, alert and ever-watchful. Due to my love of sculpting animals and my romantic side, this story and the scenery really inspired me and I hope visitors to this lovely part of the world will also see the sculpture and be inspired.”

Mark Rand of the Friends of the Settle to Carlisle Line said: “It was important to mark this dog’s part in history and through JOEL’s sculpture we are able to do this. 

“This sculpture is being placed at Garsdale in recognition of the tens of thousands of people and one dog who objected to the proposed line closure between Settle and Carlisle. The one dog that protested was Ruswarp who marked the petition with his paw print and as a result of this petition the line stayed open.

“I hope visitors to the area take time to admire the sculpture and learn of its story, whilst also making use of this line that was kept open thanks to the support of people across the county – and one dog.”

A documentary of the sculpture project will be available in the futre on the Ruswarp blog.