Festival's lasting legacy

GLORIOUS weather made this year’s Lymm Festival more popular than ever – and as usual it has left a valuable legacy to enhance the local community.
People turned out in droves for the outdoor events and in thousands for the opening Street Fun and Food Fest.
Throughout the 10 days of the festival the various events raised substantial sums of money for charities such as St Rocco’s Hospice, Steps, Jessie’s Fund and others.
A totally unexpected but very welcome concern by international concert pianist Stephen Hough – who used to live at Thelwall – was arranged at the last minute and was a complete sell-out and provided a boost to festival funds.
One long-term legacy from the festival which the community will be able to enjoy for many years to come were wonderful carvings made by chain-saw sculptor Tim Burgess.
Thanks to a grant from the Stronger Together Neighbourhood scheme, Tim created a storyteller’s seat in the Oughtrington Community Orchard.
It is hoped a series of events will be held throughout the year, when it will be put to good use.
Tim also carved a whole series of sculptures at Lymm Dam.
Festival director Honor Giles said: “I walk my dog there regularly, and it is delightful to come across these lovely carvings, some obvious, but others less so, so you have to keep your eyes peeled.
“There is the imposing face of a Green Man carved out of a tall sycamore stump, with all sorts of other creatures carved into the wood around it. Others include a millipede, a sweet little owl, a king and a goblin head. We hope everyone who goes to the Dam will enjoy finding them”.
However, thieves ruined what was to have been the main feature of the carvings at the Dam.
A larger, more elaborate and longer lasting statue of a Green Man, carved from a single piece of London Plane which was to be embedded in the ground, was planned.
But a few days after the wood had been delivered to the site, it was stolen. Ranger Tim Baker said it must have taken more than one person and a lot of effort to drag the logs up the bridle path, and it was obvious that a chain saw had been used to cut it up into manageable chunks.
This major set-back meant Tim had to quickly rethink his programme of carvings.
Picture shows Tim Burgess working on the storyteller’s seat.