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I noticed during December that "Humphrey" the M5 Camel and his recently acquired friend "Boo" had disappeared from their location just south of the "wicker man".
At the time I thought he had disappeared perhaps for Christmas and I recall some years ago that he disappeared for several months.
However, passing by last week and this week I noticed that the camel which has been something of landmark is still missing for almost a quarter of a century
Sounds like several things happen to our friend the M5 camel. On time several years back i went down to devon for holiday and it looked like he had a red ribbon round his neck...
Not sure what happened to the camels, but has anyone else noticed the dinosaur in the bushes beside the northbound carriageway at Bridgwater? Can't remember if it is before of after the wicker man - will have to have a close look next time I'm up that way.
The Willow Man and the Dino were both still there last week when I went to Somerset. They surprised me but then I figured "It is Somerset, so nothing too odd really!"
Anybody know what the solar panel spire thingy is for? It's along the M5 in those parts but didn't seem to have any reason for its placing.
Since posting my original message I did some searching around and found two possible answers:
The BBC Somerset web site reported that "Humphrey" and "Boo" were taken to Taunton for a Christmas Nativity display and there was a photograph of them there.
Another was a reply to a question posted elsewhere which suggested that the Highways Agency had insisted on their removal as they were a distraction to drivers.
Well if that is the case - is not the much bigger plastic dinosaur also a distraction and the Wickerman and even bigger one?
With regards to embelishments from time to time "Humphrey" has worn hats / helments or scarves.
Just hope its not a case of the HA being awkward and "Humphrey" returns soon )
He did come back, but he's dissapeared again now (probably for something to do with the Bridgewater Carnival). He does charity work and other stuff too from time to time, so he is liable to come and go.
RoadaddictReece wrote:Sounds like several things happen to our friend the M5 camel. On time several years back i went down to devon for holiday and it looked like he had a red ribbon round his neck...
That's quite normal, he often gets dressed up, depending on the weather.
DavidBrown wrote:Not sure what happened to the camels, but has anyone else noticed the dinosaur in the bushes beside the northbound carriageway at Bridgwater? Can't remember if it is before of after the wicker man - will have to have a close look next time I'm up that way.
He's brilliant, but something of a hazard too! He moved to the other side of the road because the trees were getting to dense for you to see him, but I went passed him 2 weeks ago, then the other day and he had overturned! How undignified! I hope he gets put back up soon!
Big Nick wrote:The Willow Man and the Dino were both still there last week when I went to Somerset. They surprised me but then I figured "It is Somerset, so nothing too odd really!"
Anybody know what the solar panel spire thingy is for? It's along the M5 in those parts but didn't seem to have any reason for its placing.
Nick
The spire thing is a sculpture called tower of light. It is supposed to mark the gateway to somerset and the south west. I doesn't look much in daylight but it has little led lights that are lit up on certain nights of the year, which makes it look quite spectacular!
Hope this helps!
Last edited by henhouse05 on Tue Aug 30, 2011 10:31, edited 1 time in total.
Since this has been dragged up, does anyone else think that the charm of the Wicker Man has been lost with the dominant Morrisons depot now next door? There's also new housing very close by, so in the space of a year the Wicker Man has gone from being in deepest darkest rural Somerset to being hidden amongst another suburb of Bridgwater. Bit of a shame IMO.
DavidBrown wrote:Since this has been dragged up, does anyone else think that the charm of the Wicker Man has been lost with the dominant Morrisons depot now next door? There's also new housing very close by, so in the space of a year the Wicker Man has gone from being in deepest darkest rural Somerset to being hidden amongst another suburb of Bridgwater. Bit of a shame IMO.
so many stretches of motorway look so alike that it's nice to have landmarks, such as the Wicker Man and Dino.
I was upset when the steel bull that signalled your arrival in Sheffield from the south was replaced by a giant steel 'O'. if that wasn't bad enough, the 'O' was then removed, so theres nothing there now
Well that's the down side of that steel works changing hands so many times in a short space of time...
Then salt was rubbed into the wounds by E-On taking away the Sheffield twin-towers from the opposite side too!!!!
Not that the bull really signalled arrival in Sheffield from the south as such, since it was at Meadowhall junction (34), and you've already been past numerous Sheffield exits including J33 to the centre via the Parkway.
The bull was always more of a "nearly missed Sheffield" from the south, and more of a "nearly there" if coming from the North.
shimtoan wrote:I was upset when the steel bull that signalled your arrival in Sheffield from the south was replaced by a giant steel 'O'. if that wasn't bad enough, the 'O' was then removed, so theres nothing there now
Funny, there's a similar sculpture Ireland to that bull - two of them (steel cows/ox etc) in a field on your left as you are coming into Tuam on the N17 from claremorris, they often make you do a double take as they look like real cows grazing.
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