At this time of year, as the twilight draws in, it’s easy to imagine fantastical creatures and mythical spirits may be lurking in the gloom and mists of the hills surrounding and the valley running through the pennine town of Hebden Bridge where we are based. At the darkest time of the year, we can all bring a little cheer and light up our lives with events such as Light Up The Valley – a wonderful celebration of light organised by the Rotary Club of Hebden Bridge and supported by Hebden Royd Town Council. This winter extravaganza took place over several evenings and weekends in December and travelled around the villages surrounding Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd entertaining locals and visitors alike.
The light spectacular told the story of the dragon of Hebden Royd, and her journey and search for her eggs. It spent several evenings travelling around the hilltop villages of Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd, encompassing live performances by pyrotechnical masters Flame Oz, heavy hitters Drum Machine, local legends Handmade Parade, and several local musicians including Hebden Bridge Brass Band. The final weekend featured two massive days where everything came together in Mytholmroyd on the Saturday and then Hebden Bridge for a finale on the Sunday.
We were honoured to be asked not only to create an ice sculpture trail for each of the daytime events in Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge as well as ice sculptures of the dragon’s eggs which were a new kind of ice sculpture called negative ice carving where the ice carving magically appears inside the block of ice – perfect for a baby dragon suspended sleeping inside the egg, waiting for the moment to crack open the ice and emerge to see their Mama.
We also sculpted a gigantic ice carving of the ice dragon herself. This magnificent, beautiful beast was carved in our studio and only just fit into our van!
The ice sculpture trail featured Christmas characters such as a frosty snowman, Santa’s workshop, the goose that laid the golden egg and a gingerbread man big enough to go on the town’s Christmas tree.
We also made some interactive ice sculptures that were very popular and had people queueing up to have their photos taken behind the Light Up The Valley picture frame or in front of the angel wings.
The light and ice extravaganza was a fantastic success and very popular with the villagers and townsfolk of the area – even when the weather wasn’t that kind. In brought a warm glow to a very chilly and dark time of year and we had great fun being involved. We can’t wait to see if the ice dragon of Hebden Royd returns next winter!
