\n Jamie Wardley, who grew up in Woodside and attended Buttershaw School, is one of the judges on Race Against the Tide, a new BBC sand sculpting competition hosted by comedian Iain Stirling.\n<\/p>\n
\n The six-part series sees teams race against the clock to create spectacular sculptures on a Scottish beach before the tide washes them away.\n<\/p>\n
Bradford roots remain close to his heart<\/p>\n
\n Despite now living in Hebden Bridge, Wardley says Bradford remains a huge part of who he is.\n<\/p>\n
\n Reflecting on his childhood, he credited supportive teachers and creative opportunities for helping shape his future career.\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: “I had a really good grounding at school.\n<\/p>\n
\n “There was an amazing music teacher called Mrs Hill and she’s still around today.\n<\/p>\n
\n “She was one of those teachers who would always go the extra mile. She wasn’t just teaching music, she was doing the school plays and helping children get involved in all kinds of creative activities.\n<\/p>\n
\n “From a very young age I liked singing and performing, and because of that I ended up taking part in a lot of school productions. Looking back, that gave me something really important.\n<\/p>\n
\n “When you’re a child, standing on stage in front of your friends, their parents and the whole school is a huge amount of pressure. But when you do it, and you get through it, you realise you’re capable of more than you thought.”\n<\/p>\n
How a chance encounter led to an international career<\/p>\n
\n Wardley’s career in sand sculpting began almost entirely by accident.\n<\/p>\n
\n While travelling in Norway as a student in the late 1990s, he came across an artist working on a sand sculpture and stopped to watch.\n<\/p>\n
\n The sculptor invited him to have a go himself, sparking a journey that would eventually see him become an internationally recognised sand and ice sculptor.\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: “There was this guy lying on what I thought was a pile of dirt. I walked past, then came back later and realised it was actually a sand sculpture he was creating. We got talking and he asked me if I wanted to have a go.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Afterwards he said, ‘I think you’ve got an eye for this.’ Then he invited me to come over to Norway and spend some time learning more about sand sculpture. It was one of those moments where I could either take the opportunity or walk away from it. Thankfully, I took it.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Wardley said that experience helped shape his outlook on life and creativity.\n<\/p>\n
Bringing sand sculpting to primetime television<\/p>\n
\n Wardley’s involvement in Race Against the Tide began well before he was confirmed as a judge.\n<\/p>\n
\n Producers initially approached him to help determine whether the format could work in the UK, drawing on his decades of experience working professionally with sand sculptures.\n<\/p>\n
\n After helping shape the programme behind the scenes, he was later invited to join the judging panel.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It was quite a long process,” he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n “There were lots of conversations and checks along the way, but eventually the opportunity came to be a judge as well. I thought, ‘Yeah, that’d be really cool.'”\n<\/p>\n
‘Bradford is on an upward trajectory’<\/p>\n
\n Wardley also spoke passionately about the changes he has witnessed in Bradford over the years and said he believes the district’s future is bright.\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: “When I was younger there was the big hole where Broadway was, the Odeon was sitting there derelict and a lot of places looked tired.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Since then, you’ve seen City Park created, Centenary Square developed, Broadway built and now the Odeon restored.\n<\/p>\n
\n “When I look around Bradford now, I see a city that’s constantly improving. The amount of development that’s happened is remarkable.”\n<\/p>\n
Proud of being from Bradford<\/p>\n
\n He recently visited the city centre with his children and said their reaction highlighted just how much has changed.\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: “They were running around City Park and through the fountains, absolutely loving it. They kept saying, ‘This place is amazing.’\n<\/p>\n
\n With Bradford celebrating its year as UK City of Culture, Wardley believes the district is heading firmly in the right direction.\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: “To me, Bradford is on an upward trajectory. There’s so much positive energy going into the city and I feel really fortunate to come from there.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I’m proud of Bradford and proud to represent it whenever I get the opportunity.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jamie Wardley, who grew up in Woodside and attended Buttershaw School, is one of the judges on Race…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":579676,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-579675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}