A giant crocheted King Charles has appeared in a pretty Cheshire village ahead of the Coronation of Charles III on May 6.
While Holmes Chapel might be known as the boyhood home town of former One Direction heart-throb Harry Styles, residents in the quaint village are hoping to make it known for its yarn bombing activities.
And going all out to prove that it can be done, a local collective of knitters have created a 7ft crocheted model of King Charles, surrounded by animals and gardening tools, reports Cheshire Live. The intricate collection of crocheted Coronation decorations have been created by 29 members of the Holmes Chapel Yarn Bombers who worked individually for "hundreds and hundreds of hours" to create the impressive display.
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It's not the first the residents of Holmes Chapel have taken up their knitting needles for a royal event. Last year, yards and yards of knitted flags, bunting, bollard covers, Queens and corgis took over the village centre in the full colours of red, white and blue ahead of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
A number of women in the community, who first took up knitting through lockdown to pass the time, staged a collective effort to create an impressive array of knitted Jubilee themed garments that were spread across the village. Decorations included colourful woolly bollard covers, red, white and blue lamp post wraps and a intricate Queen and royal guards structure on a traditional post box next to the church.
This time, at least 73 balls of wool have gone into creating the display, which features a pair of wellington boots holding pansies, a wheelbarrow holding a pond scene, and a royal watering can and reams of woollen bunting.
Meanwhile, the star of the show, King Charles, is dressed in regal attire including a crocheted crown and a knitted cape, and he is also holding a Red Admiral butterfly. The display can be seen in St Luke’s churchyard, and is joined by other knitted creations around the village, including bollard covers in red, white and blue, created by the local U3A organisation.
Anita Armitt first set up the Holmes Chapel Yarn Bombers group through lockdown as something for people to do and keep the community spirits lifted during the pandemic. The parish councillor explained that the group of women knitters first came together, virtually, and now ranges in age from 10 year olds up to 80 year olds across the village community.
The knitting collective use or buy their own wool or rely on donations to get all the knitted pieces created. They first put out displays for Remembrance Day events with knitted poppies, continued the theme at Christmas and then were praised for their excellent Platinum Jubilee crocheted model of Queen Elizabeth.
Nicola Swinnerton, who Anita describes as Holmes Chapel Yarn Bomber's creative heart, said the group had workshopped a few ideas before settling on a larger-than-life King Charles.
“You’ve got to think about whether or not it will stand up?" She told Cheshire Live. "Is it going to get wet? How are we going to support it? Will it be safe, because it's in a churchyard with lots of people walking around.
“So, in the end, we came back to making the King. Then Anita said, 'The King really likes the environment. We know that he likes environmental things and gardening and so let's give him a garden.'
"It's something for people to look at and enjoy even if they're not particularly royalist," she added. She did however also add that the project went further than expected with additions constantly being added to different parts of the display, and said the knitting group spent “hundreds and hundreds of hours” on the project."
For this year's display, King Charles has been formed around a mannequin donated by the local Shopfitting Shop, who also provided the mannequin formed around their Queen display last year. Anita added that the community response has been “extremely good,” and the project has given visitors another reason to come to the village, other than as a pilgrimage to Harry Styles' hometown.
She said: "A lot of people come into the village to have a look at it, and so it's actually bringing a little bit of trade to the coffee shops, etc. All Holmes Chapel is known for Harry Styles. So, we're trying to do something different and make it known for yarn bombing."
Holmes Chapel is a pretty village located just off the M6 at Junction 18 in Cheshire. It's known for its railway viaduct, but in recent times it has become known as the hometown of One Direction hear-throb Harry Styles, with many flocking there.
The village boasts a number of independent shops, cafes, bars, pubs and restaurants. It's also well known for its long-established bakery Mandevilles, where pop superstar Harry had his first part-time job while still a schoolboy, before his big X Factor success.
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