Olympic sporting stars are strutting their stuff across the Harrogate district. Sporting silhouettes have been placed on roundabouts and on public open spaces as Harrogate Borough Council’s Parks Team help celebrate the London 2012 Games.
There’s a javelin thrower, a footballer, a gymnast, boxers, swimmers, runners, a hockey player, an archer, cyclist, tennis player, weightlifter, basketball player and even a rider with his horse.
The idea came from Harrogate Borough Council’s Parks Team as they looked at how we could celebrate locally the Olympics and, of course, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. What a year for their creative skills!
As well as these sporting silhouettes, the team is also planning red white and blue baskets and troughs around the district which, of course, are the right colours for both celebrations. There are plans to mow out the Olympic Rings on Christ Church Stray in Harrogate and the display garden “Dive into 2012” the council created along with Harrogate College for the Harrogate Spring Flower Show is being relocated to Ripon Spa Gardens.
And keeping it in the family, the sporting silhouettes have been created by Neil McLaughlin, Nursery Manager for Bradford Metropolitan District Council, who volunteered his time to his wife Trish McLaughlin who is Harrogate Council’s Parks Development Manager.
Patrick Kilburn, Harrogate Borough Council’s Head of Parks and Open Spaces, says this has been a real team effort working very closely with partners and volunteers.
Patrick Kilburn said:
These two celebration events gave us a wonderful opportunity to come up with something new and exciting and I would like to thank everyone involved. And to say a special thank you to Neil who has spent a lot of his own time on this project, we have given the templates for the Olympic silhouettes to Bradford who will be doing something similar in their district.
The Olympic figures are in the following locations:
Boroughbridge
One basketball player and one weightlifter on roundabout near to Morrisons
Harrogate
Three swimmers to be placed in the Valley Gardens
One boxer on St George’s Roundabout on Leeds Road
Four runners on Prince of Wales Roundabout
One javelin thrower at World’s End
One archer Woodland’s Walk
One cyclist at Knaresborough House
One tennis player in Park Row
Pateley Bridge
One hockey player, one footballer and one gymnast at Foxes Head
One horse and rider outside Ripon Racecourse
