A city has been given a magical transformation after knitted and crocheted characters from the Harry Potter collection have been used to brighten bushes, benches and postboxes.

The Ellesmere Yarn Bombers have been adorning Ellesmere in Shropshire with their crafted creations since 2018, with Harry Potter chosen because the theme for this 12 months’s summer time yarnbomb, an idea which sees vibrant knitted and crocheted yarn adorn streets.

Alison Utting, who is among the organisers of the group, informed the PA news company that the thought behind the theme got here from a member who needed holidaymakers coming to the city throughout the summer time holidays, or these dwelling there, to search out “joy” from them.

“After the suggestion, ideas started flying,” Ms Utting, 56, stated.

“We’ve got some really talented crafters in the group and many were getting really involved saying, ‘we can do Dobby, we can do Harry Potter’.

“Others where like ‘who is that?’ But everyone has really got on board.”

A 15-strong crew - a mixture of totally different genders and ages - made knitted and crocheted variations of Hagrid, Harry Potter and Dobby, a platform 9 and three quarters signal for a bench and a mini-Slytherin outfit to grace a tree.

July 31 marks Harry Potter’s birthday and Ms Utting stated that one of many causes individuals nonetheless love the Harry Potter books is as a result of writer JK Rowling was a pioneer of “bringing people into the foreground who would usually be seen as background characters”.

“(Ron Weasley), the red-headed boy with the freckles who’s a bit clumsy and has hand-knitted jumpers, and (Hermione Granger), the nerdy girl in class, become heroes,” she stated.

“She’s a very gifted writer and the books lend themselves to children’s imaginations.

“My daughter’s a Slytherin and she passionately supports Slytherin - she’s even got a Slytherin glasses case.”

Ms Utting stated some within the group made the extra elaborate work, whereas others could have made just a few squares for a blanket, however “everyone plays a role” and the tasks serve to unite the crew and hold them “laughing together”.

The inspiration for the work got here from patterns on-line, in addition to “from each other”, because the creatives usually swap concepts and suggestions.

Ms Utting added that it was “nice” to see how the group has grown since its inception.

She stated it drew inspiration from the dying of one in all her mates Hannah in 2017, who helped to arrange the group.

The work has garnered followers throughout the globe.

“We’ve had people commenting from Australia and in America because people have been sharing pictures of them online,” she stated.

“Bringing joy has always been our absolute aim - if somebody walks past and they make people smile, then we’ve achieved what we’ve wanted to achieve.”

“And when you put them up and drive through the town and you see people having their photos taken by them, it’s amazing, as we’re all fiercely proud of our town and hope the yarnbombing draws more people to Ellesmere.”

The crafted creations are to remain up till September and the group has arrange a Crowdfunder to lift cash for future yarnbombs, which could be accessed right here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/ellesmere-yarn-bombing