Harston Lockdown scarecrows

Hilary Roadley

Harston scarecrows cope with lockdown

Grant & Cheryl Marriott have entertained passers-by in Station Road, Harston with their NHS Harston Lockdown theme. There are weekly changes to their scarecrow Albert RN (Bert) and more lately with Bert’s new lady friend, Victoria (Vicki).

Albert RN first appeared on Station Road at the beginning of Lockdown (April 2020) supporting The NHS – with some PPE (Personal Protective Clothing) visible.

Other sightings in order as follows:-

Essential Shopping ( April 2020 ) as well as getting his daily exercise!
Clapping The NHS ( April 2020 )
Working From Home ( April 2020 )
We’ll Meet Again ( May 2020 )
Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining ( May ) with the rainbow poster
Social Distancing ( May 2020 )
Lockdown Hairdressing ( May 2020 )

Lockdown cocktails with their dog Scratch (June 2020)

Due to wet weather Bert & Vicki have been furloughed! They are hidden away under cover (June 2020).

Vicki is now out dog walking Scratch the easy way (13 June).

Anniversary Drive to celebrate 72th year of NHS

Passers by left with a smile and uplift of spirits thanks to Grant and Cheryl. Quite a few cyclists going by also stopped to take photos and share what they had seen. One even asked if they really did haircuts!

The Anniversary drive has had a big impact with many cars and people stopping to have a look while out on Sunday, 5 July, when there was also a fly past of a spitfire over Addenbrookes  and Papworth Hospitals in Cambridge.

Lockdown being over Bert has returned to his regular job guarding the veg patch at the bottom of the garden – July 16th 2020.

History behind the lockdown scarecrows

Several years ago, the church held a scarecrow competition and the village hall committee were asked to provide a suitable entry. Grant made Albert RN for this purpose. He came joint first along with one made by the Friday art group. The prizes were awarded by the son of Peggy Heap (Tom) the Country File presenter.

Albert RN (Bert) retired undefeated to the veg patch at the bottom of the Marriotts garden. The twelfth photo in the series will be of him in this location.

Then, a couple of weeks into the clapping for the NHS Cheryl thought it would lighten the situation if scarecrow Bert began to appear weekly with some form of Lockdown theme. Sometime into this exercise Cheryl was told about the Harston Lockdown photo competition run by the parish church. They wanted photos of  images from youngsters that caught their attention during lockdown. The winning images would be used to make a calendar to raise funds for the church. This is where the number twelve comes from.
Victoria was made purely to help come up with more themes, ( not always easy to keep ideas fresh ).
Whilst Grant thinks ‘Bert’ will see out he’s remaining days at the bottom of the garden, he fears ‘Vicki ‘ may be dismantled for the sake of his sanity.

This page was added on 28/05/2020.

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