Charles Bird, Garden of ornaments

this picture (sept 8, 2008) 
courtesy of stowupland, Flickr

The picture above gives an impression of the Garden of ornaments in the community of Stowupland  (Suffolk area, United Kingdom) as it was in september 2008, just before it was demolished.

Life and works

Charles Bird (1933?-2006), who created this garden, made a career in the Royal Air Force.

The garden project probably came in full swing when Bird got retired, probably in the early 1990's.

The following pictures, made in the 1990's,  show that in these years the garden was abundantly decorated with all kinds of colourful items, including a display with US license plates.

 this and the next two pictures (made in the 1990's)

courtesy of Katie Teague

This diplay also has a sign in which Bird pays tribute to his American connection. This refers to a number of friends he made in the United States when in the late 1950's he stayed there for some six months to attend a training course.

Garden ornaments, such as waterpumps and bird houses, were Charles Bird's favourite items.

He died in february 2006.

I suppose that after some time the house was sold. The new owners cleared all creative decorations. They may have thought that one waterpump and one birdhouse would be enough.

Documentation
* Via private correspondence with Katie Teague, a member of Charles Bird's American connection I got some biographical data and a number of pictures. The following diashow give a good impression of the garden as it was:

first published: july 2011, revised jan 2012, june 2015, sept 2016


Charles Bird

Garden of ornaments

Sycamore Road

Stowupland, Suffolk, East of England region, UK

garden demolished