Giant ball of yarn rolls through neighbourhood

A giant ball of yarn is rolled along a road by people holding a piece of wood which runs through the ball.Image source, Jacob Tomlinson/BBC
Image caption,

The ball of yarn stands at 3m (9.8ft) tall

  • Published

A giant ball of yarn has been rolled through a Bradford neighbourhood to celebrate the city's textile heritage.

A Good Yarn, which measures 3m (9.8ft) high and wide, was made from fabric and clothing donations from across the Bradford district.

Hundreds of people turned out to watch the giant ball make its way along Ravescliffe Avenue in the BD10 postcode area earlier, with its journey soundtracked by local drumming band Katumba.

The man behind the creation, artist Luke Jerram, said he was "really proud" of how the artwork came together after a "huge amount of work".

A giant ball of yarn consisting of various colours.Image source, Jacob Tomlinson/BBC
Image caption,

Each piece of material was added by someone from Bradford

The event was the latest to celebrate Bradford's year as the UK's City of Culture.

"I think the public have been rather surprised to see this rolling down the street outside their house," said Mr Jerram, who worked with the Bradford's Bloomin' Buds theatre company to bring the project to life.

The fabric and clothing donations were plaited into a rope stretching more than a kilometre (0.6 miles) in length.

The rope was then wound into a giant ball with the help from community groups in the BD10 postcode area.

Mr Jerram said: "It gives people an opportunity to embed their creativity as this artwork has been made by the people of Bradford. That's really important."

A group of people make their way down a street playing drums.Image source, Jacob Tomlinson/BBC
Image caption,

The ball of yarn's journey was soundtracked by local drumming band Katumba

Get in touch

Tell us which stories we should cover in Yorkshire

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.