Families on the recent Bradley Stoke ‘Famous Wizards and Witches’ scarecrow trail who visited Baileys Court Activity Centre in search of the Abacus Pre-School figure shown on the trail map may have been confused to find not one just scarecrow at the site, but THREE!
The second scarecrow was down to a misunderstanding leading to the Bradley Stoke Wise Owls Club figure being wrongly shown at a residential address on the trail map, but the art installation that had appeared in the Baileys Court play park on the opening day of the trail was an imposter!
Labelled ‘Running Through the Wheat Fields’ with the hashtag #JohnDoh, the piece showed images of Boris Johnson and Theresa May standing at the bow of the Titanic (according to the name on a dangling lifebelt).
A quick internet search led to the Facebook page of Bristol street artist John D’oh and the message:
“So I couldn’t help myself and had to hijack Bradley Stoke Town Council’s scarecrow trail. The theme was Famous Wizards and Witches and I thought that these two fitted in perfectly. Location is everything and this is located right outside the [council offices].”
“Hopefully it will get a few smiles from the adults and kids while it lasts, but I am not expecting the Conservative council to appreciate it.”
Someone who did appreciate it was the town council’s sole Labour member, Fabrizio Fazzino, who tweeted a photo of himself standing next to the installation (see below).
This article originally appeared in the November/December 2020 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal magazine (on page 37). The magazine is delivered FREE, nine times a year, to ALL 8,700 homes in Bradley Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
