Wombles statues unveiled on Alderney
The island of Alderney has a new Womble trail of five wooden statues.
They’ve been placed at locations around the small island, for the enjoyment of Islanders and visitors:
- Great Uncle Bulgaria with a suitcase, at the airport
- Madame Cholet with binoculars, at the harbour
- Tobermory carrying a lamp, at the lighthouse
- a child’s seat with Orinoco on one side and a lion on the other side, representing primary sponsor the Lions Club of Guernsey, on The Butes playing field
- a blonde hedgehog reading a Wombles book, at the woodland trail (blonde hedgehogs are a rare variation that is common on Alderney)
The statues by artist Mike Burgess are carved from English oak, stand 1.2 metres (4 feet) high and weigh 250kg, with concrete plinths.
They were unveiled on 18 September by Steve Roberts, a member of Alderney’s government, who organised the project. He said: “The statues have cost taxpayers nothing as they are sponsored by several local businesses. I’d like to thank all the local businesses plus States Works and the Harbour Office for their support.”
Alderney, one of the Channel Islands, has a long-standing affinity with the Wombles, as author Elisabeth Beresford regularly retreated to the island throughout the 1960s and 1970s before living there permanently until she died in 2010.
