A COMPETITION begins today to design a special "listening sculpture" which will be placed in Bradford city centre to allow people to hear the sound of the underground beck below the city's streets.

Friends of Bradford's Becks (FOBB) are marking the course of the hidden waterway which flows through the city using 15 pavement plaques carved out of stone.

But the group also hopes the addition of a special sculpture in Tyrrel Street will catch the interest of passers-by who will be able to put their ear to the sculpture and hear the river running below their feet.

A system similar to the speaking tubes on old ships will carry the sound up to openings in the new sculpture.

In order to get the right design FOBB is holding a competition for a piece of public art which will generate interest in the beck and reflect Bradford's pride, history and culture – as well as allowing people to hear the beck below.

One of the group's members, Judith Yaxley, has sponsored the competition meaning that a prize of £2,000 will be given to the winning artist.

To be eligible to enter artists must live, work or exhibit within the catchments of the Yorkshire rivers - the drainage areas of the Don, Calder, Aire, Yorkshire Ouse, Derwent and Hull.

The competition closes on Friday, July 29, and a panel of judges will interview finalists at the beginning of September, before the results are announced on September 15, World River's Day.

Barney Lerner, chairman of FOBB said: "Once we have a winning entry we can seek planning permission. Everyone in Bradford Council seems very positive about the ‘listening sculpture’ so we hope that planning permission will be straightforward.

"Then we can do the real fundraising. We think we will need £30,000 and will be applying for an Arts Council grant.”

The judging panel includes Professor Lerner, two professional sculptors Marcus Levine and Sam Shendi, curator of exhibitions at Bradford Museums and Galleries, Sonja Kielty, acoustics expert Professor Kirill Horoshenkov of the University of Sheffield, Judith Yaxley of Bradford College of Art and the competition sponsor, as well as a representative from the local community.

There will be an exhibition of the shortlisted entries so that Bradfordians can offer their opinions. In addition the winning artist and FOBB will also tour schools and community groups to explain the project and raise awareness of the beck too.

As well as announcing the winning sculptor in September, the trail will be officially opened on the same day. Each of the 15 plaques carries a line of poem specially written by Jane Callaghan in a competition held in 2014.

The slabs are being placed in pavements between Thornton Road, by the former Odeon building, right through to Lower Kirkgate, past The Midland Hotel. So far three have been installed and more have been carved and are ready for installation.

Full details of the competition are available online at MarkingBradfordBeck.org.