Giving an old bird a new lease of life,

Every now and again, I am asked to do something a bit different

I was contacted by a gentleman who had been trying to find someone to help him. He asked me if I could revive a heron that his family were very fond of as it had been in the family for over twenty years,

As you can imagine ther were lots of stories to tell, including that they had fallen in love it with it local garden show. and it had been delivered by the original maker in a wooden trailer on the back of the car but this person wasnt making any more and so they needed someone else to give it a new lease of life.

It was created on a metal frame, which was now quite old but still did its job, providing some added character, and it hadn't been treated, so I was impressed with how much willow was still attached to the frame. I discovered when he delivered it that it was much bigger than I thought, being 2- 3 times the size of a real heron.

Luckily he was in no rush and so when I had some time free and good weather I started stripping it back and starting over again. as with all these type of restorations you never know quite how long it will take , we had agreed on some images that gave me a sense of how the wings might go as he didnt have any earlier photographs. Now the bird is back home with instructions on how to look after it for the next 20 years