On the road! "Snapper" Rich had to keep his clothes on for this shot! Stray Zebra by Banksy? Dead Woman's Bottom 30 strong! Figure by Keith Wisby "Casualty of War" Lobster Wronging! Taking in the atmosphere THEY ARRIVED by coach. Not your usual tourists on a sightseeing trip round the Mendips, nor for them the sights of Wells Cathedral and Glastonbury Tor; instead, abandoned quarries. For these visitors are fans of graffiti art. Redundant Asham Quarry and its dormant neighbour Westdown Quarry, at Chantry near Frome, are unlikely art galleries; yet walk along the bridleway that divides them and you could be in for a surprise: Mendip-born graffiti artist "Rowdy" and some of his friends have been at work. All is eerily quiet in the quarries; even the arrival of the 30-strong Wrong Island tour from Bristol fails to pierce the silence. They have arrived there via Shipham, where more of Rowdy's work is on show. Boulders are covered in what appear to be cartoon faces, yet many tell complicated stories. One, Casualty of War, looks humorous, but - given Iraq and even the London bombings (it was painted long before the atrocity) - has a far deeper significance. Rowdy, who lives in Bristol, says on his website: "This is a place that's been blown to smithereens so it seemed appropriate to drop some of my war-related work here." Wags enjoy rearranging some of the smaller boulders which make up another image called Process Report. Rowdy checks up on his art on a regular basis and retouches his work; he uses mainly household paints. He uses the natural - even blasted - shape of the rocks as canvasses for faces and other images. Rowdy believes he and his friends - the story is that Bristol-born artist Banksy is behind the zebra-striped facelift for the burnt-out car - are bringing new life to a countryside wrecked by quarrying. He said: "We are putting something back. Quarrying vandalizes the countryside: am I a vandal?" The quarry giant Hanson does not seem to mind… too much. Spokesman David Weekes said: "We think the artwork brightens up what are, after all, pretty desolate places. We hope people using the bridleway enjoy the work." He added: "What we don't want to see are illegal motorcycles ruining the bridleway or burnt-out cars. We had to remove 40 of them a while ago." Report written by Mark Adler.