Doctor Who fans knit scarf 'longer than Clifton bridge'

Katherine Bell Scarf in a trolleyKatherine Bell
The giant scarf was measured on the Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare

A giant scarf made by volunteers from across the South West now measures 267 metres (875 ft) long.

The scarf is longer than the span of Bristol's Clifton Suspension Bridge that measures 214m (702 ft).

It was started last year as a celebration of the Doctor Who exhibition at Weston Museum that has now finished.

The team gathered earlier alongside volunteers and the council on the Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare to measure the scarf's final length.

Weston Museum learning officer Katherine Bell said it had become so long it had to be rolled up and carried in a trolley.

Two people laying the giant scarf down onto the pier
The scarf is 267 metres (875 ft) in length

"It's been lovely to kind of see people giving a little bit of themselves," she added.

"We had members of the public come in to help and people posted their knitted scarves from all over the country."

Katherine Bell (right)
Katherine Bell started the project in October last year

Ms Bell said it was lovely to see people learning how to knit so they could take part in the project and others using up their scrap yarn.

"People put little buttons or little random things on it, so it's really nice how it kind of changes across the whole length of the scarf," she said.

"I think knitting is something that's kind of seen as the previous generation's skill.

"But it's had a bit of a revival."

Because the scarf was too long to measure in the museum, Ms Bell said the team took it onto the pier to judge its final length.

Lalla Ward as Romana and Tom Baker as the Doctor
Tom Baker is best known for his record-setting seven-year stint as the Doctor

The original Doctor Who scarf was worn by actor Tom Baker in his role as the fourth Doctor from 1974 to 1981.

It is thought the costume designer gave a knitter a big bag of mixed wool and asked her to knit a scarf.

The designer expected the knitter to pick the wool that she liked from the bag, but instead she used up all the wool and created the very long and now iconic sci-fi scarf.

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