WRITERS with a passion for Bradford are being asked to pen a poem to help a project aimed at sharing the hidden route of the city's buried beck.

The Friends of Bradford's Becks (FOBB) group wants to plot the course of the waterway, which flows beneath the city centre, using 15 stone markers placed in the pavement.

The plaques would be linked using a specially written poem about the Beck, with visitors encouraged to follow the path of each to read the full verse.

Ed Butterworth from FOBB said: "The Beck is as much a part of our future as it is of our past, yet most people have no idea where it flows."

The group said the watercourse was instrumental and essential to Bradford's growth as an industrial powerhouse in the 18th and 19th centuries.

But during that time the Beck was buried in culverts so that today, no sign of the river can be seen and there is nothing to mark it.

The hand-carved Welsh sandstone slabs will placed in the pavement at key locations from Thornton Road, by the Odeon building, right through to Lower Kirkgate, past The Midland Hotel.

They will be entirely funded by commercial sponsorship and so far eight of the 15 are spoken for with others on the way.

Sponsors include Westfield, Bradford Live, Anchor Housing and Yorkshire Water, plus others who want to remain anonymous.

FOBB chairman Professor David Lerner said: "To provide a thematic link and encourage the exploration of the route from one end to the other, each plaque will carry sequentially a single line from specially written poem and we are looking for local poets to write this poem.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus:

"We're reliably informed that the stone plaques should last for decades and the words will be cut deep - so although there's no money involved, there's a shot at immortality."

A member of the Friends group, Stuart Jenkinson, has already penned a poem, which is currently the front-runner. But the group said anybody could submit one of their own and is welcoming comments on the current suggestion.

The final poem will be picked by a small panel of FOBB and officers from Bradford Council.

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, the Council's executive member of employment, skills and culture, said: "I applaud the Friends of Bradford Beck for having devised a really imaginative idea. I reckon there are lots of people who would jump at the chance to have their work published in such a creative way."

The Council is supporting the scheme and will be installing the specially-carved stones and an information board in Tyrrel Street will explain the background to the scheme.

FOBB was set up by a group of Bradford residents and interested ecologists who are keen to see the restoration of the Bradford beck river system.

Anyone wanting to write a poem can visit www.bradford-beck.org for more details.

The closing date for entries is March 1.

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