Spectacular Dragon Sculpture unveiled at Towneley Park by #AmazingAccrington Creative Artist Sarah Mae Francis

Visitors to Towneley Park in Burnley can now marvel at a brand-new dragon sculpture, created by talented #AmazingAccrington artist Sarah Mae Francis.

The friendly dragon, made entirely from recycled metal donated by local firms and individuals, including car parts and tools, has taken pride of place as part of the Towneley Dragon Trail.

Commissioned by the Friends of Towneley Park, the dragon was designed and built by Sarah Mae at her creative studio in Great Harwood. The impressive sculpture, which weighs 320 kilos including its base, took around six weeks to produce. It began with a wire frame made from round bar steel supplied by K Steels, before being built up layer by layer into its final, majestic form.

Local businesses also played a key role in bringing the dragon to life, with Morris Blacksmithing supporting the fabrication of the wings, horns and teeth, and Manchester Galvanizing who galvanized the sculpted dragon to weather proof him to make sure he is here for many years to come, right before he was then powder coated at NSG Powder Coating, who provided the eye-catching powder coating, featuring two layers of sparkling powder underneath and two layers of vibrant candy red on top, finalised with some hand painted elements.

The piece even holds a personal connection to the trail’s origins: a spanner belonging to the grandfather of Friends of Towneley Park member Judith Glover, who wrote the children’s book that inspired the trail, has been incorporated into the sculpture. His initials, “H.I.,” are proudly stamped on the metal, a touching tribute woven into the dragon’s design.

Sarah Mae Francis said: “I’m incredibly proud to have created this dragon for Towneley Park. It’s been a joy to transform recycled materials into something magical. I hope the Towneley Dragon Trail inspires families to explore the park and brings even more people to discover its wonderful stories and sculptures.”

The Towneley Dragon Trail encourages families to collect a free trail sheet from the Towneley Hall foyer and follow a path through the park and into Thanet Lee Woods, discovering colourful dragon models made by Friends of Towneley Park, as well as dragon silhouettes hidden among the trees, and the new “Dragon’s Nest.”

In the future, Towneley Park would like to raise money for Sarah Mae to produce more dragon sculptures for the trail.

The trail is sponsored by Fort Vale, K Steels, Life Cafés, Burnley Borough Council, thyssenkrupp and donations made by the public. The sculpture was unveiled on Sunday, coinciding with the Burnley Nature Festival at Towneley Park.

Sarah Mae specialises in handcrafted metal sculptures created from scrap car parts, sheet steel and other unusual items such as spark plugs and cutlery. Her techniques include welding, plasma cutting, grinding and combining technical skill with artistic imagination.

Her first major piece, Rusty the Horse, a life-sized sculpture made from scrap metal and old tools, weighing nearly half a ton, was completed when she was just 16 years old. Since then, she has exhibited Rusty at the Royal Lancashire Show, motorsport and equestrian events and even the Motorsport Show at the NEC in Birmingham, where Sir Jackie Stewart OBE stopped by to admire her work. So impressed was the three-time F1 world champion that he invited Sarah to exhibit at Aintree’s Grand National in support of his charity Race Against Dementia, which funds groundbreaking dementia research.

Learn more about Sarah Mae’s work at sarahmaeart.co.uk.