Feathered Fantasy

BIGGER FANTASY

At Reedham on the Norfolk Broads is Pettits, an animal & wildlife adventure park. In 1973 when we were on a 2 week Broads cruising holiday, we visited Pettits. I've never been back there but it seems the place has expanded somewhat over the years. They're involved in conservation too and work closely with the East Anglian Red Squirrel Society, with some of my namesakes - Red Squirrels - bred there. Some of the babies born at Pettitts have been released into a conservation area in Holt, North Norfolk.

Whilst there we discovered in their shop that feathers either shed or plucked from birds that die there (and from other sources too I think) were used to make exquisite small wall hangings and much larger tables - each one taking many painstaking hours to create. I fell in love with this table and Bri treated me to it as a belated wedding present. It's 26" x 16". No way was I going to risk it being used as a table, and the damage to the glass that would inevitably ensue - off came the legs and it's on the wall hanging over the fireplace. Hard to believe that I'll have had it 40 years later this year ....