The eight-legged walking jack-op barge – known locally as ‘Luke Wave Walker’ – may have left Dawlish after completing its work on piling for the new sea wall, but he will not be quickly forgotten.
In December, the Mayor of Dawlish Cllr Alison Foden launched a story-telling competition about Luke Wave Walker.
Just before Luke left Dawlish, the mayor was delighted to award doorstep prizes and certificates to the joint winners of the Luke Wave Walker Competition.
A brief ceremony was held virtually on Zoom beforehand.
Judging took place by the Mayor and Diane Flavin, the Dawlish Librarian, who agreed the entries from TJ (aged 12) and Nahla (almost 5) should be joint winners.
The Cllr Foden said: ‘Both TJ and Nahla are worthy winners and we know the entrants had worked really hard on their stories. TJ’s entry also mentioned our famous orange army, while Nahla’s included a lovely drawing of Luke. Congratulations to them both.’
TJ’s winning entry:
Big storms come and go
They bash the walls, too and fro
Railway lines, defences and more
All come under attack from the seas roar
Along came the army, dressed in orange
Try as they might they could not manage
They did their best to make it right
But the wall, it was quite a sight
So along came Luke The sea Walker king
He made it easier, for them to swing
All the big rocks into place
To make Dawlish a safer space
It stands so proudly in the sea
Showing us what is meant to be
One fix at a time,
Maybe the damage was a sign
Of things to come, where life would be
Supported and safer from the sea.
Nahla’s winning entry
One night Luke and Owl saw an alien!
The alien took all the stuff. He turned the sea red! Luke was sad.
Owl flies to get the stuff back!
Yay!