Chapel-en-le-Frith rock snake gets permanent home in park

Back in the spring of 2020 when the schools were all off, Alfie Kennedy-Walker wanted to make people smile and so with the help of his dad started a rock snake in the park.

Now a year on the stones have been embedded in concrete around a cherry tree in the park to act as a memorial and reminder of the tough year people faced.

His mum, 44-year-old Ellie Kennedy-Walker from Park Road, said: "We will hopefully never have a year like we did last year and I think it’s important to remember there is a story behind every rock which was painted.

“This snake, which Alfie named Sydney, serves as a record of everyone we loved and lost, the forgotten hugs and the claps for our key workers."

The snake stayed in the park until the early autumn last year when the leaves started falling and covered it.

Ellie and Alfie went out and collected as many stones as they could and over the winter spent time washing and varnishing them to keep them looking good for years to come.

Ellie said: "Alfie is so proud his snake idea came to life and lives on. He went down with his dad when the stones were all laid in and he loved it.

“The support from the community for this project has been great.

"Everybody has different memories of lockdown and yes there will be the history books and the TV shows which will remember what has happened across the world but for the people of Chapel this is their memorial so thank you to everyone who got involved.”

She added: “The stones are so beautiful, they have messages of hope and love on them and they look great in their new home.

"Sydney is in a quieter part of the park. A place to reflect to sit and just think about what has happened and what we as a community have been through.”

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