Hollywood-style stars map out town’s history

Work to lay the first stars in the Bull Ring and at The Hepworth Wakefield is almost complete.

Wakefield indie band The Cribs is among the line-up from culture, science and sports. They join playwright John Godber, Victorian explorer Charles Waterton, clock-maker John Harrison, Rugby League legend David Topliss and 20th century sculptors Henry Moore and Dame Barbara Hepworth.

Gary Jarman, of The Cribs, who plays alongside his brothers Ryan and Ross, said: “This is a long way from what we expected when we set up the band. It’s really cool.

“There has always been something of the streets of Wakefield in us and now there is something of us in the streets. We feel very honoured and proud.”

The names for the first Wakefield Stars plaques were selected from many public nominations by the Wakefield Stars Board, set up by Wakefield Council and representing a cross-section of community and business organisations.

The leader of the council, Coun Peter Box, said: “It’s good to be celebrating what Wakefield is proud of, particularly when we are meeting a lot of tough challenges.

“It was a hard job to choose the names for the first stars, but they are the start of the process and more will follow as we continue to roll out the scheme and put more plaques along the route.”

The Cribs’ plaque is in the Bull Ring, with the Henry Moore and Dame Barbara Hepworth plaques at The Hepworth Wakefield. The pavement plaques for David Topliss, Charles Waterton, John Godber and John Harrison also lie in the Bull Ring.

Nominations are open for the next round of the 2011 awards and these can be made on the council’s website at www.wakefield.gov.uk or at any of the district’s libraries.

For more information and a Stars map, visit www.experiencewakefield.co.uk