I'm rather taken with Geoffrey, a friendly giraffe used to promote Toys R Us since 1965. I'm even more taken with his bench inside W H Smith in Chippenham. Prior to the chain's sale earlier this year, it was agreed that certain stores would also have a Toys R Us section within them. Geoffrey's bench marks the transition from one of our traditional High Street retailers into something more fun and entertaining, though sadly rather empty when I took this photo. At some point the name W H Smith will morph into its new owner's chosen rebrand name, T G Jones* - rather bland in my opinion which appears to have been made up, unlike the original name which refers to the company's original founder Henry Walton Smith and reaches back to the year 1792. * = it has already in nearby Malmesbury, though they have yet to erase the etched W H Smith from the glass doors. They seem to have retained the corporate blue colour on the shopfront too, for now at least. UPDATE - it tur...
Neat!
ReplyDeleteInteresting!
ReplyDeleteI can hear that tree scream from here !
ReplyDeleteOuch!
ReplyDeleteOh my! Fences don't make good neighbors...to trees!
ReplyDeleteWhy, oh why, oh why???
ReplyDeleteHi everyone, I'm more intrigued by how one of the branches has its own hole in the fence to poke through. It does look rather magnificent overall, though perhaps the owners didn't realise how big it was going to grow when they planted - a problem in waiting they've set up for the current house owners.
ReplyDeleteFrom Zoe who emails:
ReplyDeleteMinute I saw the photo it took me straight back to Highgrove and the bonkers hobbit house HRH has on the lawn in front of the house. Why do people do these things to trees?
The neighbour would be within their rights to saw the branch off!
Zoe - it hangs over a public footpath, so there's no neighbours. From a distance, which is how most people see it, it's a rather magnificent tree. It's only when you get closer, that you see there's a bit of a problem. I suspect the people who planted it decades ago didn't know there'd be a problem and the current owners are probably in a bit of a dilemma re what to do for the best.