Lasting tribute to man who fed roundabout's chickens

Gordon Knowles looked after the chickens in Ditchingham, Norfolk, for decades

A special tribute has been installed in honour of a man who spent decades feeding hundreds of chickens on a busy roundabout.

Gordon Knowles, known as the "Ole Chicken Man of Bungay", would feed wild poultry on the A143 junction at Ditchingham on the Norfolk-Suffolk border.

Mr Knowles died in January 2020 aged 87 and several campaigns called for a permanent memorial on the roundabout for him.

Ditchingham Parish Council announced a lectern had been placed nearby telling the story of Chicken Roundabout and celebrating the life of Mr Knowles.

Ditchingham Parish Council has placed the lectern close to the roundabout

In a post on social media, a spokesperson for the parish council said: "At last, we have something to celebrate at the Chicken Roundabout!

"After all these years, all the different proposals (and refusals), and all the interventions, we now have a lectern-style information board."

According to the parish council, Norfolk County Council would not allow the lectern on the roundabout. It has instead been placed on a grass verge between Smokey Joe's restaurant and the A143 junction.

It includes the history of the roundabout, as well as the work of Mr Knowles.

At the population's height, 300 chickens were living on the roundabout

At one point the roundabout had 300 chickens living on it and it was believed they had escaped from a nearby allotment decades ago.

Over the years, several campaigns have tried to permanently change the roundabout's name to Chicken Roundabout, while others have called for permanent statues of chickens as well as of Mr Knowles.

A plaque was revealed on Bungay's Falcon Bridge in 2012 in his honour.

"I feel very, very honoured indeed," he said at the time.

"I always made sure I fed them first and then I had the rest of the day to myself."