THE Mayor of Test Valley, Cllr Tony Gentle, arrived at Project Workshop in Quarley on Saturday on the back of a Harley-Davidson.

The machine was one of 74 Harley-Davidson bikes ridden from Romsey to herald the opening of the Test Valley Open Arts 2002 event.

Mr Gentle's verdict on his trip on the back of Pete Gilbert's machine was quite simply: "Brilliant."

He changed out of his leathers to formally open the two-week celebration of local art which involves galleries, exhibitions and workshops throughout Test Valley.

The gathering of Harleys was organised by Mr Gilbert of the New Forest HOG (Harley Owners Group), who also had an exhibition of his paintings at the Project Workshops.

Project Workshops, founded by Richard and Mandy Atkinson-Willes, is a complex of 12 artists' studios situated in refurbished farm buildings at Lains Farm.

Artwork at the workshops include stonemasonry, silver and glass.

One of the permanent artists is David Booth, who specializes in stunning fountains, but he has recently discovered a torch carrier he made for the Millennium was used by the Queen to ignite the jubilee beacon on Monday.

He was commissioned to make the ornate torch for the 2000 celebrations but only discovered it was to play a central role in the golden jubilee last week.