From the
https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Rebecca Tuffin, 29 October 2019.
Giant floral Shorn the sheep once stood in Maidstone town centre and
now lives at Who'd A Thought It hotel.
Ever wondered what happened to the giant sheep which used to loom
over shoppers in Maidstone High Street?
Originally commissioned by the borough council in the mid 1990s as
the centrepiece for a flower festival, the 18-foot model became the
Marmite of Maidstone.
Shorn the sheep was the Marmite of Maidstone.
The wire and plaster model adorned with 2,600 flowers, was known as
Shorn and first stood in the centre of Jubilee Square.
It remained there on and off for five years, causing quite the stir
with local people, who were continuously arguing over whether it was
good or bad to have the county town represented by a sheep.
After the council decided not to pay for it any more, Shorn was
bought by Grafty Green Garden Centre.
However, many fought for its return.
So the garden centre agreed to loan the animal structure to the town
centre management initiative for four months a year, when it stood
outside Chequers Bus Station.
Shorn when he arrived in Maidstone town centre in 2002. He is
pictured with then Town Centre Manager Paul Alcock, who passed away
last year. Picture: John Wardley.
This went on for at least 10 years until the contract ended and
Shorn returned to his Grafty Green home.
Above photo 2005.
When the garden centre closed in 2015, the owners were planning to
scrap the sheep, but one couple swooped in to save the day.
Owner of boutique hotel Who'd A Thought It, Joe Mallett and his
partner Alex Baldwin bought Shorn for the price of two charity meals
at their on-site restaurant.
Mr Mallett said: "It was just sitting there left to rot away and I
thought we might as well have it.
I bought it for just two charity meals but I had to transport it
myself. I rented one of those machines you use to lift hay bails and
stuck it under its belly but its head fell off.
"But then I found out I could lift the body off the legs, so we took
it apart and put it on the truck like that."
Alex Baldwin, left, and her friend, Clare Robertson.
Once Shorn arrived at the hotel, also in Grafty Green, Mr Mallett
considered whether to carry on the tradition of covering the sheep
in flowers each summer.
The 54-year-old said: "I thought it would be a labour of love to
plant it with flowers every year so instead we covered it with
artificial purple grass and a gold stainless steel sign saying #Who'dAThoughtIt."
Shorn now stands in the front garden welcoming guests and has even
appeared on an episode of Celebrity Hunted.
Miss Baldwin, 37, said: "It was the episode with Steph and Dom from
Gogglebox. They're good friends of ours and came here to hide for a
night."
The pair also ran a competition for the best picture with the giant
woolly creature.
Mr Mallett, who has run the hotel for 33 years, added: "We had
people climbing up almost naked with tape covering them up and
another guy with full armour. The winner won a night in our hot tub
room."
Well, there you go, who'd a thought Shorn would end up at Who'd A
Thought It?
|