Iklin’s scouts have inventively weaved 350 metres of rope and 150 metres of wooden pallets into a storey-high crib that is now adorning part of the roof of the locality’s parish church.

The Iklin Scout Group did not build the Nativity scene in a traditional cave form. Instead, they used a widely-taught technique by which scouts all around the world learn to put together strong and sturdy structures using simple materials.

It is called pioneering, and it essentially teaches scouts to tie knots to wood or other materials to construct bridges, swings, catapults, doorways and similar structures.

Only this time, the structure is a huge crib, towering over wooden cut-outs of biblical characters from the Nativity story. The technique also allows the structure to stand without the need for glue, nails or screws.

Around 30 troop and venture scouts worked for some 70 hours over the past weeks, to set up the structure that covers an area of 10 metres by four metres and which is being showcased to the public during the festive season.

The scouts used the equivalent length of 150 metres of wooden pallets and 40 pieces of plywood, most of which is reclaimed wood.

The project is the first of its kind for the scout group that has been established for more than 30 years, and was created in collaboration with the Iklin parish church to commemorate the 800th anniversary since the first Nativity scene was set up by St Francis.

The saint recreated the scene of Christ’s birth during a special ritual mass on Christmas eve in 1223. It has been a time-honoured tradition in the Christian world ever since.