Ripon's life-sized knitted tank is set to be dismantled and retired next week.
The Churchill AVRE tank was crafted by the Ripon Community Poppy Project last year for the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
The installation has since travelled across Ripon and further afield - but now the time has come for it to be retired.
Around 30 volunteers from the Ripon ‘Knit and Natter’ group spent nine months producing the project, knitting approximately 1,860 eight-inch squares in the olive-drab shade of wartime tanks.
In total, the tank required around 2,300 balls of wool, 70,500 hours of volunteer time, and nearly £3,000 worth of donated timber for the frame.
It was officially unveiled in April 2024 at the Ripon Inn forecourt before touring locations including Ripon Cathedral, Tate’s Nursery, Newby Hall, Fountains Abbey and Ripon Market Square.
The tank also travelled to Llandudno in North Wales, where it was displayed at the Victoria Shopping Centre as part of "The Longest Yarn – D-Day Tribute."
It later returned to Ripon Market Square for Remembrance events in November before being placed in storage at Claro Barracks.
If you want to see the tank for the last time, it is currently on display at Tate’s Nursery until 18th September.
Stuart Martin, co-chair of the Ripon Community Poppy Project, told Your Harrogate:
“Sadly everything has got a shelf life and the knitted tank has come to the end, for a few reasons.
“One is that Ripon Farm Services have given machines and manpower free of charge so many times, and we can’t keep asking them to move it indefinitely.
“The structure of the tank itself wasn’t built to be moved 10/12 times, which is what we’ve done, and wasn’t built to be transported on the back of a wagon, it wasn’t built to be out in the rain – it was built for the D-Day celebrations.”
He added:
“It’s brought a lot of people into Ripon and that’s fantastic, but it has now got to a point where it’s becoming unsafe and what the public don’t see, are the repairs that need to be done as we move it from location to location.
“We’d rather retire it whilst it’s in good shape and everyone remember it how it is.
“A lot of the wool has faded and it’s not looking as good as it could be looking, so we want to retire it whilst it’s in people’s memories in a good way.”
Alongside its role as a tribute, the knitted tank also raised over £1,000 for Help for Heroes.
The wider Poppy Project was recognised nationally last year when it received the King’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest accolade for volunteer groups.
Stuart said:
“I’m really proud of what the whole community has achieved with this tank.
“One of the aims of the Poppy Project is to bring people into Ripon, and I think we’ve achieved that.”
LISTEN: Stuart Martin, co-chair of the Ripon Community Poppy Project, spoke to Your Harrogate's Pete Egerton:
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