Truro's wooden hedgehogs restored to former glory

Denzil starred in a display at Chelsea Flower Show

Truro's wooden hedgehogs have returned to their roundabout home sporting new makeovers.

After five years on the Trafalgar roundabout, the four sculpted creatures had deteriorated and were in need of repair.

One of them, called Denzil, was repaired for Truro City Council's stand at this year's Chelsea Flower Show and the Royal Cornwall Show.

Denzil was restored by artist Emma Scott at her studio - Mellingey Mill Willow Craft Centre in St Issey.

In spring birds had ripped off patches of the hedgehogs' faces to use the coco fibre for nesting

Ms Scott and six helpers spent 256 hours of wood cutting and whittling, drilling and stitching to restore Denzil, the council said.

In the original design, each one of the hedgehog’s 3,500 prickles were individually chopped, hand carved and drilled and stitched on to chicken wire placed around a metal frame.

The head was covered with coir fibre and the eyes made from ebonised oak by woodsmith Dominic Pearce.

The three other hedgehogs were given a temporary makeover while the council decides how to fund a more permanent solution.

In June the restored hedgehogs were shown at the Royal Cornwall Show in Wadebridge

The city council's parks manager, Richard Budge, said: "We need to assess how much repairing Denzil has cost and then look at how the restoration of the remaining hedgehogs can be funded, possibly by setting up a GoFundMe page.

"We know that the hedgehogs have captured the public’s imagination and that many people want to see them restored so hopefully they will come forward with ideas and offers of support," he added.

The hedgehog statues helped win Roundabout of the Year from the Roundabout Appreciation Society in 2019 and featured in the society's 2020 calendar.