The people of Fleetwood have been building their own mythology out of clay, wax and an old fishing trawler. Amber Archer went along to a workshop to help bring a new nine-foot community puppet to life ahead of Tram Sunday celebrations this weekend.
“Her name comes from an old fishing trawler of the same name – one of the oldest serving in Fleetwood,” says Emma Clarke, an artist helping to bring Harriet, The Spirit of Fleetwood, to life.
The creation of the 9ft puppet has been led by Janine Walker, with support from Emma and the people of Fleetwood. Her name is a fitting tribute in a town built on its maritime history, and it will now live on through long after the boat itself stopped working.
“The boat served the town for years and years, and it’s in Fleetwood Museum at the moment,” Janine adds. “That’s where Harriet will end up living between her events.”
“We created the hands and the face using clay, and then we made a cast of it using thermoplastic moulded onto the clay, so it’s hollow,” says Emma. “Eventually it’ll let light through it, so we can use it in lantern parades as well.”
But Harriet’s real substance comes from the people of Fleetwood themselves. When we popped along to help bring her to life, we were handed paintbrushes and fabric and told to get stuck in.
“Today we’ve been mostly painting textiles – printing and batik painting, wax relief painting,” Janine says. “The morning session was a drop-in for the public to help paint Harriet’s outfit, and we had people of all different ages.”
Before Harriet began her new life, Janine and Emma asked the town what she should represent.
“We had a consultation before we made her about what people thought the spirit of Fleetwood was, and that gave us motifs that are carried into her dress, so it tells a story,” Janine says. Trams, fishing boats and fragments of local memory are now woven into Harriet’s skirt and cloak.
“One lady this morning said she wanted to be able to point to the tram and say, ‘That’s the bit I did’, because she used to work on the trams,” says Emma.
Harriet will make her debut leading a community parade, which steps off from the North Euston Hotel at 11am on 19th July. It’s the centrepiece of Fleetwood Festival of Transport – or Tram Sunday – now in its fifth decade and billed as the UK’s largest free transport and arts event.
The festival began life in 1985 as a one-off marking 100 years of the Blackpool Tramway, before it made a comeback for Fleetwood’s own 150th anniversary the following year. It’s been running ever since, now put on by volunteers and Fleetwood Arts CIC.
This year’s line-up of vehicles reads like a coach trip through pop culture as much as transport history, with Lightning McQueen, the Ghostbusters’ Ecto-1, Transformers’ Bumblebee and Optimus Prime, and the Jaguar XJ-S from The Saint all confirmed alongside classic cars, vintage buses, motorcycles and Harry’s Miniature Steam Train.
The Songsmith Stage will have live sets from Electric Pink Voices, Lucas Williams and his band and the Flat Cap Three, joined this year by newcomers Elton Wrong and Bell & Bullock Victorian Time Travellers, while the Pirate Rickshaw wanders the crowds throughout the day.
There’ll also be mini golf, a silent disco and face painting for families, plus food, drink and local shops open across the town.
Harriet won’t disappear once the parade’s done either. She’s designed to be a lasting fixture of Fleetwood life, splitting her time between the Museum and appearances at future community events and lantern parades for years to come.
Tram Sunday runs from 10am on Sunday 19th July in Fleetwood town centre, and is free to attend.
