A decorative ‘topper’ that has appeared on the Royal Mail post box in the foyer of Bradley Stoke’s Willow Brook shopping centre is the work of a newly formed group of local ‘yarn bombers’, the Journal can reveal.
Post box toppers first became popular in 2020, during the first Covid-19 lockdown, as a way of thanking NHS staff and putting a small on people’s faces.
More recently, they have been used to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, through displays that include woollen representations of crowns, corgis, Beefeaters, soldiers of the Royal Guard and even the Queen herself!
The Bradley Stoke (and surrounding areas) Yarn Bombers group was formed after a local enthusiast advertised online that she would like to have a go at some crochet post box toppers to “brighten up the area”, having been inspired by a recent yarn bombing project in Patchway.
Having decided on a sunflower centrepiece, members of the group contributed other objects including flowers, toadstools, butterflies and bees.
The finished work was then installed atop the Willow Brook Centre post box on Friday 10th June 2022.
The group is now on the lookout for other post boxes in the area that could be decorated. Round boxes with a ‘lip’ are said to be the most suitable as it is easier to secure a topper to this type of box.
Related links:
- Platinum Jubilee: Woolly postbox toppers appear for Queen (BBC)
- UK Post Box Toppers and More Group on Facebook
- Post Box Toppers UK on Instagram
From the archives
This is not the first time that yarn bombers have been active in Bradley Stoke. Avid Journal readers may recall the ‘Bobbly Stoke’ stunt in October 2014 when over 50 knitted bobble hats appeared on bollards and sign posts in the north of the town.
