2009 Limited Editions
These pieces should arrive late Feb. early March but you may preorder them now.
Click on photo for larger image if available
|
|
Swan & Cygnet (LE: 995)
Thornton Hough, Cheshire
Created by the architect J Lomax Simpson, this impressive Grade-II-Listed building was built in 1910 as the gatehouse to the magnificent Thornton Manor, which was bought in 1893 by William Hesketh Lever, later the first Viscount Leverhulme of Port Sunlight fame.
Lever had planned more buildings around the entrance courtyard, but this black and white gatehouse was the only one completed, as the Great War intervened. Capturing much of the decorative detailing, our version comes complete with two topiary swans with cygnets - hence the name!
Swan & Cygnet is the third in the special series of four Limited Edition lodges. The first in the series, Frog Hall, was introduced in January 2008; the second, The Hare & Hounds, in January 2009; and the last piece will be launched in January 2011.
Click on photo for larger image if available
|
|
L3217 The Crumplehorn Inn, Polperro (LE: 850)
Polperro, Cornwall
Sculpted by Gary Kerkhoff, this fabulous Limited Edition is a study of one of Polperro's most popular and famous inns - with what can only be described as a most unusual name! The present complex is known as Crumplehorn Mill and consists of an old corn mill (Killigarth Mill), which was in use until the 1950s, and an old farm (Crumplehorn Farm) in the hamlet of Crumplehorn, and can be found just north of Polperro.
The most exciting episode of the Inn's long history has to be during the Elizabethan period, when it was used as a counting house for privateers. These were times when privateering was a legal, almost respectable, occupation whereby Spanish and French ships could be plundered as long as the proceeds were split with the Crown! Lord Burleigh, The Queen's Treasury Officer, was responsible for 'counting' the ship's cargo before taking the Crown's share away.
Not surprisingly this was a very good way to boost the coffers of the treasury, helping to fund Elizabeth I's rapidly growing Naval Fleet, and many a ship's captain became very rich in the enterprise too! When privateering became outlawed, smuggling became rife and one famous character was based at this very mill. Zephaniah Job, who was also known as the 'Smuggler's Banker' because he paid for legal advice and sent money to smugglers in prison. Zephaniah was so powerful he even issued his own banknotes, one of which can be viewed on display at Truro Museum.
Tourists come from all over the world to this area to take in the breathtaking scenery, enjoy the old tales of smuggling and privateering, partake of some delicious food and ale, or simply to marvel at the power and force of the mill's restored overshot waterwheel as it thunders round and round. These visitors cannot bring their cars down into the village and so the sight of the colourful 'horse buses' just like the one Gary has included in his scene, are still a very familiar sight today.
|
