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21
Apr 2023
Valley Gardens ceremony to mark Harrogate's 70 years of links with New Zealand
A sculpture symbolising eternal friendship and loyalty will be unveiled in Harrogate's Valley Gardens this weekend.
The Maori pikorua symbol forms part of the newly-refurbished New Zealand Gardens, along with a new bench and an information board.
The garden was created in 1953 to mark the links between Harrogate and Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, forged during the Second World War. Four men from Wellington are among the 23 New Zealand Air Force crew buried in the Commonwealth war graves at Stonefall cemetery.
The refurbishment – the first work for more than a decade – has been funded by individual donors, along with support from North Yorkshire Council, including local councillors Sam Gibbs and Peter Lacey.
It follows the deterioration of the previous installations in the area, including wooden sculptures and a bench which were affected by the weather and targeted by vandals in 2020.
Dennis Richards, chair of Harrogate International Partnerships, which oversees Harrogate's twinning programme, said:
The unveiling of the garden will take place at 11am tomorrow, Saturday.
Flt Lt Dan Channon of the Royal New Zealand Air Force will represent his country and its capital, Wellington, at the ceremony.
Tewit Intermediate Band will play from 10.40am before the ceremony is opened by Mr Richards at 11am.
It will include short speeches about the history of the garden, its links to Stonefall, and the significance of the pikorua sculpture.
Among those speaking will be Fran Pride, the daughter of Tony Sissons who was instrumental in its development through his roles with the Friends of Valley Gardens and Harrogate in Bloom.
His widow, Bobbie, will officially reveal a new information board explaining the links between the towns, before Virginia Partridge, whose late father Alan Rollinson had strong links with both Harrogate and New Zealand, unveils the new sculpture.
The national anthems of both countries will be performed, with soloist Amelia McQuire singing New Zealand's.
Alongside the garden refurbishment, Harrogate International Partnerships is working to build stronger links between the people of Harrogate and the communities in their twinned towns.
As well as Wellington, Harrogate has twinning agreements with Barrie in Canada, Bagneres de Luchon in France, and the Unesco world heritage site of Montecatini Terme in Italy.
Read more:
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- Chainsaw sculpture completed at Ripon's Himalayan Garden
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