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Orwell Bridge, on A14 outside Ipswich, sees another ‘guerrilla’ projection to mark Tour of Britain




The Orwell Bridge outside Ipswich was lit up again last week to commemorate a special event.

On Friday evening, June 23, a projection marking the Tour of Britain was beamed onto the bridge on the A14, as Suffolk prepares to celebrate its first entrance into the competition since 2017.

It was the handiwork of Motion Mapping, based in the town, which previously placed a ‘guerrilla’ projection on the bridge to mark Star Wars Day on May 4.

The firm recently travelled across Suffolk to create footage for the event at locations where cyclists will pass through during the tour.

Stuart Harris, the founder of Motion Mapping, said: “We’re involved with the event for Suffolk and our goal was to engage the public with the event as a celebration of the county.

“There are many iconic parts of Suffolk the racers will pass through, and the Orwell Bridge is one of them. As part of this we also created videos and projection in other parts of the county, which will be revealed at a later date.”

Motion Mapping projected images onto the Orwell Bridge. Picture: Motion Mapping
Motion Mapping projected images onto the Orwell Bridge. Picture: Motion Mapping

Outside of the Star Wars Day projection, the team also projected onto London Bridge for The Ashes.

Stuart said they are always passionate about doing things in the local community.

He noted there was not really anyone who did what Motion Mapping does.

Hundreds of cyclists will visit Suffolk on the fifth day of the Tour of Britain.

They will travel through Babergh and Mid Suffolk, and around Ipswich, before ending at Felixstowe pier.

It marks the first time the coastal town hosted the race, although its sister race, in 2021, concluded there.

The Tour of Britain 2023 starts in Greater Manchester on September 3 and ends eight stages later in South Wales on September 10.

Along the way the riders will race through Wrexham, East Riding of Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Essex.

Mick Bennett, Tour of Britain race director, said: “It’s great that the Tour of Britain is returning to Suffolk after six years away.

“Of course, the whole county has given incredible support to the Women’s Tour, which has visited Suffolk four times in that time.

“The crowd’s noise for the race’s finale in Felixstowe in 2021 was unbelievable. I reckon we’re in for a repeat of that come September.”

The route through Suffolk will be revealed in Felixstowe at 9.30pm on Friday.

Motion Mapping is set to project it onto the front of the pier at the event – and it will also be shown on a big screen.