Newsroom

How you can get into gear to showcase Notts during Tour of Britain race

We may be only at the start of the summer holidays, but anticipation and excitement are already building ahead of the Tour of Britain’s return to Nottinghamshire in early September.

The showpiece event has previously graced our county’s roads in 2017 and 2018 and proved to be hugely successful on both occasions – with 250,000 people lining the route four years ago and the local economy boosted to the tune of £3.9 million.

Now with preparations stepping up a gear for the race’s return on Thursday 8 September, we want communities across Robin Hood Country to embrace the Tour and do their bit to showcase what Nottinghamshire has to offer to the millions of people who’ll be watching the race worldwide on TV.

You and your community can do this by taking part in the Best Dressed Town and Village challenge and entering the national Land Art competition, both of which will provide a great opportunity for residents, landowners, and groups to show off their creative talents

On the two previous occasions the Tour has come here, you have risen to the challenge and created some truly fantastic pieces of land art as well as transforming our towns as villages into a spectacular sea of flags, bunting and bike displays as the event passed through the county.

None of us can forget the truly remarkable image of a bicycle made of sheep feeding created by Coddington farmer Des Allen in 2017, with TV footage of his iconic masterpiece going viral on social media.

Please remember, if you want to follow in his footsteps, your art needs to be big enough to be seen from the air and, if you are planning on creating something, to seek permission from the landowner first.

So, with a global TV audience of millions and the eyes of the world on us, let’s get creative and help make it a sporting extravaganza to remember and showcase what our great county has to offer.

I cannot wait to see the 116-mile route between West Bridgford and Mansfield awash with colour and I would urge your communities to embrace the event – who knows, you may get the accolade of being one of our best dressed towns and villages.

You can find out more about the national Land Art competition and Best Dressed Town and Village challenge by visiting our dedicated Tour of Britain webpage.

Good luck!

Councillor John Cottee, Cabinet Member for Communities at Nottinghamshire County Council