A KNITTING group from Thornbury has taken on the challenge to recreate the town’s high street from wool.

The aptly-named “Woolbury” was started by the Knit and Knatter group last September as a long-term project ahead of the Thornbury Arts Festival which starts on May 5.

Among the impressive array of creations are many of the recognisable buildings along the High Street, including the Town Hall, Riddifords and the pump, as well as many other well-known Thornbury landmarks, including St Mary’s Church, Thornbury Museum and Dagg’s Allotments.

All the pieces included in the collection are now on display in the Arcade in St Mary Centre and will remain there until May 11.

Having knitted an incredible dinosaur collection for last year’s festival, Knit and Knatter were inspired to commit to this new project after visiting a similar exhibition at Bristol’s M Shed last May.

“We just looked at each other and thought – hey, we could do that!” said Knit and Knatter member Eryl Daniels. “While it has been a challenge, it has been a lot of fun.

“It started just as a group of friends, but we picked up a number of others along the way, especially when people heard about what we were doing.”

Fellow group member Geraldine Cater added: “It really evolved as a project the more we got into it. Everyone enjoys different bits of the creative process so we were regularly helping each other out, finishing bits off and working well as a team.”

New member Val Ricketts said how brilliant the experience had been and how much she had enjoyed being able to talk to people and really take advantage of the “Knatter” half of the club’s name.

Since September, 18 members of the group have worked hard to produce almost half of the High Street, but there are no plans to finish just yet.

Eryl praised the “tremendous” team effort, saying that the group has already been approached by some businesses wanting to buy their building.

She said: “It would be good to do that eventually and raise some money for charity, but I think we will be keen to get the whole High Street completed before we do any more."

The group has offered its heartfelt thanks to everyone who gave their support during the project, in particular The Woolstop, Surroundings, Riddifords, The Peer Group, Aldi and Country Craftsmen.