Saltwell Park Sculpture Day

Tomorrow marks one of my favourite days in the local cultural calendar - and for the first time in years, I'm sad to say I'll be missing it. Gutted I am.

What is this magical event I hear you cry? Why, it's the Saltwell Park Sculpture Day of course! That magical day that marks the start of autumn when the park fills with local families creating fantastical artistic creations from scraps of wood. This year my 'team' (aka my family) are largely away on holiday so we're sitting this year out - so I thought I'd do the next best thing and show you what we've created over the past couple of years!

It all starts like this. A big pile of wood and nails. Doesn't look like much does it? 

At this point, I like to hold a bit of a planning meeting (not bossy at all *ahem*) and we work out what we're going to build. Every year the event organisers announce a theme - so far we've had 'Movies', 'Silver' and 'Sport'. 

Can you tell what we're building here?

It's quite exciting seeing sculptures spring up as far as the eye can see - what a hive of activity the park turns into!

Here we are the first year we ever attended - with another mystery creation! 

Worry not, I'll reveal our finished sculptures in a second...

But first, look at that gorgeous light! Isn't Saltwell Park beautiful in the autumn sunshine?

Right, you've all waited patiently - let's have a look at some finished pieces!

Year One - Theme: Movies

We made Godzilla! This mighty beast ended up being over 6 feet tall - not bad for a day's work.

My grandparents even made some frightened townspeople to stand at his feet.

Year Two - Theme: Silver

This one was a tricky theme, so we did a bit of lateral thinking and decided to build a werewolf. Can you spot the silver bullet that's piercing him? He ended up being a fearsome creature - for some reason we seem to gravitate towards subjects with sharp teeth and claws.

Year 3 - Theme: Sport

This was definitely our most polished piece. Really proud of this one. A showjumping horse sounded overly ambitious to me, I must confess, when my dad suggested it, but nothing ventured nothing gained - and it turned out wonderfully!

And of course, the obligatory team shot. Well most of us anyway - some were a little camera shy! 

If you fancy channeling your inner sculpture, pack your tools and a picnic and head down to Saltwell Park tomorrow (30th September 2012) - full details here. 

If you do go, I'd love to see what you create!