Welcome to the award winning Ilkley Chat!
Addingham's Tour de Yorkshire Ducks Are Shortlisted
To celebrate a month since the Tour de Yorkshire reached its sensational conclusion, voting is now open to crown the best piece of land art from this year’s race.
Stage Three of the Tour de Yorkshire 2017 started in Bradford city centre and passed through large parts of the Bradford district on Sunday 30 April 2017.
Hundreds of amazing installations animated this year’s route and two from the Bradford district have made the shortlist.
The two pieces in the Bradford district which have made the shortlist of 12 are ‘A trio of giant ducks wearing cycling jerseys’ in Addingham and ‘Branwell Bronte riding a bicycle’ in Haworth.
The giant ducks which are now a permanent feature on Addingham Main Street were commissioned by Bradford Council and Addingham Parish Council working with local artist Wes Wilcox.
Addingham has a long affiliation with ducks and a similar piece of artwork was created for when the Tour de France Grand Depart came through the village. Two of the ducks are wearing jerseys from the Tour de Yorkshire and one has the King of the Mountains Tour de France jersey in a nod to the race coming through the village during both days of the Grand Depart in 2014.
The artwork featuring Branwell Bronte riding a bicycle was part of a project celebrating the Tour de Yorkshire at Haworth Primary School. The artwork celebrates 200 years from the birth of painter and writer Branwell Bronte in 1817 the brother to writers Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte who lived in and wrote about Haworth.
Pupils and teachers at the school worked with Andrew Wood from Manorlands, Sue Ryder Hospice to create the giant land art in conjunction with Worth Valley Young Farmers Club. The land art is made out of recycled plant pots, carpet and tarpaulin.
The public vote is now open for people to decide their favourite land art from this year’s Tour de Yorkshire and they can do so at http://letour.yorkshire.com/landart. Voting is open until midnight on Tuesday 13 June and the winner will be announced shortly after.
Saira Ali, who led on land art projects for Bradford Council, said: “People have absolutely loved seeing all the land art that was created in the district for the Tour de Yorkshire. It has attracted a lot of attention from residents and visitors from all over the country. The people of the district have really got behind these creative pieces and encouraged us and worked with us on them, so we are delighted that both the ducks in Addingham and Branwell Bronte on a bike in Haworth have been shortlisted for this award. Come on Bradford, get voting.”
Sir Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, will present the winner with the coveted Tour de Yorkshire Land Art Trophy which was awarded to the North York Moors National Park Authority and Hambleton District Council in 2016 for their giant piece on Sutton Bank which featured a horse, ram and wild boar riding a penny farthing.
He said: “We were blown away by the sheer number, range and quality of land art which featured on this year’s race and it was extremely difficult to select just 12 pieces.
“Images of these amazing installations were beamed right around the world and they really were a joy to behold.
“Not only did they highlight how Yorkshire people were embracing the Tour, they demonstrated the creativity, humour and ingenuity which our county is famous for and helped showcase Yorkshire at its very best.
“We’d like to thank everyone who has taken part and good luck to all those who have been shortlisted.”
Download photographs of all 12 shortlisted entries
The third edition of the Tour de Yorkshire proved to be the biggest and best one yet with record crowds of over 2.2 million roadside spectators watching the action first-hand. Belgian rider Serge Pauwels took the overall victory after winning the third stage just ahead of his Dimension Data team-mate Omar Fraile.
Full information on the Tour de Yorkshire and Asda Women’s Tour de Yorkshire can be found at http://letour.yorkshire.com.