Visitors are being invited to set foot in a galaxy far, far away next month – in aid of a worthy cause.
10 Castle Street resident Mark Donald is offering the public another chance to take another giant leap for mankind into his Star Wars garden from 1-7pm on Saturday, August 9, in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.
An Ewok (right) overlooking the Snowspeeder in Mark’s garden.
He said: “The garden is unique as much of it is made from scraps which turn out looking like they should! Many of the characters on display are screen-accurate, all are life size.
“Such a display outside never usually happens. It’s hard to maintain but it is a labour of love for sure!”
Mark’s last open day on ‘Star Wars Day’ (May 4) attracted 150 visitors, helping to raise £350. He hopes to surpass £450 before he makes the donation to Macmillan.
He said: “The last event went well. Many regulars showed up but also folk I hadn’t seen before. A few people visited from Germany and Holland, as well as from throughout the UK.”
Many of them appreciated his new Snowspeeder and Star Destroyer ships.
Darth Vader (left) and General Grievous (right) overlooking a speeder bike in the garden shed.
“The speeder is half wood and half plastic,” explained Mark. “It took three months to make.
“Visitors love the garden, especially the characters. I’ve added Han Solo, General Grievous, Ahsoka Tano, Sabine Wren and a Gonky droid from ‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch series’ since last May.”
Mark has enjoyed a break from making new additions but knows he will get the urge again in the near future.
“I have plans for a lead character addition this winter,” he said. “I will probably be making another droid and adding new character sound effects to bring others to life.
“I also have a couple of cool landscaping ideas that will happen further down the line. I’d like to get proper Tatooine-style walls around my desert section to add to the sand ground beneath the characters, trinkets, spaceship and so on. It would transform the area from really good to, literally, movie set level.”
(From left) Pabloo, Mark, R2D2, Hans Solo, Princess Leia and Chewbacca.
The sci-fi fanatic dreams of approval from anyone involved in the film and TV franchise.
He finished: “I’m hoping to invite a Star Wars actor along next year. Even if it was just a small role, that would still be epic.”
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