Volunteers help the cross to rise above Otley Chevin again for the 49th year

SCORES of volunteers headed to the top of Otley Chevin to install the huge two-tonne cross that can be seen for miles around.
By The Newsroom
Published 13th Mar 2016, 17:12 BST
Updated 13th Mar 2016, 18:16 BST
Volunteers erecting the cross on Otley Chevin on Saturday.Volunteers erecting the cross on Otley Chevin on Saturday.
Volunteers erecting the cross on Otley Chevin on Saturday.

The 36-feet high cross was erected in time for Easter for the 49th year.

The tradition dates back to 1968 and the current cross has been used since the turn of the Millennium.

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John Burland, the former secretary of Otley Methodist Church said: “Someone had been on holiday abroad and had seen a cross on a hillside. What was the local council of churches, which is now known as Otley Churches Together, decided we could so this for Easter and Otley Chevin would be the perfect place to put a cross up which could be seen across the Wharfe Valley.

He added: “We had plenty of volunteers and the weather was kind to us compared to the snow of the previous weekend. Wind can be one of the biggest problems when you are putting the cross in place but we had a good day. The cross is stored in Otley and it has to carried a couple of hundred metres.”

It takes around 50 people to put it up.

The cross is made from wood salvaged from the bombed Arndale Centre in Manchester.

Related topics:Volunteers