Giant puppet set to become symbol of fishing town

A nine-foot (2.7m) illuminated puppet is being created with a seaside town's residents as part of an innovative community arts project.

The Spirit of Fleetwood figure, which it is hoped will become a symbol of the town, is beginning to take shape in a series of free inclusive workshops.

Led by artist Janine Walker for the Fleetwood Arts community interest company, the workshops aim to bring people together to build "a striking, weather-resistant puppet using sustainable materials".

The figure will be named Harriet and the colour scheme is blue and orange, inspired by the town's famous Fleetwood trawler featured in Fleetwood Museum.

Walker said she wants to make the piece "a true emblem of Fleetwood's past, present, and future".

She said: "Think Fleetwood landmarks, people, places and organisations and the historical and cultural moments that make this town special."

The workshops are covering structural making, textile panels, surface decoration and lighting.

Stories, symbols, and reflections connected to Fleetwood and its coastline will be woven into the puppet's skirt and shawl, to make her a symbol of the place and its people.

Designed to be operated by a single puppeteer from within, with rod-controlled arms, the finished figure will be involved in various community events, lantern parades and light festivals.

Janine told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "It's our hope that Spirit of Fleetwood will become a cherished shared asset, reappearing at local celebrations for years to come."

Kat Dooney, also from Fleetwood Arts, told BBC Radio Lancashire said there had been an abundance of ideas from the first session held on Wednesday.

"We got a lot of historical memories of Fleetwood around industry, around the sea, around the beach," she said.

They also discussed topics from crabbing to Fleetwood FC, plus some old fashioned Fleetwood superstitions and sayings.

"It was nice to see people having conversations and learning things they didn't know about," she said.

She added that the workshop was a mix of people who had lived in Fleetwood all their lives to those who were new to the town.

"We have so much to go on already, I think we could actually fill her skirt," she said.

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