Platinum Jubilee soldiers guard crochet crown in Kenilworth

Carol Davidson with one of her street bollard guardsmen

A woman who got hooked on crochet has created a group of woollen soldiers to stand guard over a crochet crown on her local high street.

Carol Davidson crafted a crown postbox topper to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in her home town of Kenilworth.

She later added guardsmen, who adorn bollards surrounding the woollen crown, outside the Post Office.

Mrs Davidson said she was humbled by the reaction to her crochet creations and "very proud".

"I had to do something special for the Jubilee," said Mrs Davidson, who moved to Kenilworth from South Africa in the early 1990s.

"It's the size of a real crown, and I did a lot of research."

"I'm very lucky that the post office people are very happy for me to do it," Mrs Davidson said

Mrs Davidson intends to leave her soldiers on duty throughout the summer in Kenilworth

Mrs Davidson spent about six weeks making the postbox topper.

"Then I decided to do the nearby bollards as soldiers as I thought the crown needs one of two people to guard it," she said.

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Each guardsman took about a week to crochet and at the same time, Mrs Davidson was also producing other postbox toppers.

Mrs Davidson even crocheted lily of the valley flowers, which are the Queen's favourite

Mrs Davidson said she had seen lots of photographs on social media praising her crochet skills, adding: "I've seen children hugging them, which has been lovely."

"For me, that is the point, to see the joy that they are bringing," she said. "That was the whole intention."

Mrs Davidson has also produced a postbox topper in support of Ukraine

Her crochet hobby began during the first coronavirus lockdown in 2020.

"I came across a website for postbox toppers," she said. "People were going through such a tough time, and it was about trying to bring a couple of smiles to people's faces.

"I started very small and as time has gone on, my creations have become a bit more extravagant."

The guardsmen are seen by hundreds of motorists every day on Kenilworth High Street

The Townswomen's Guilds website has instructions on how to create postbox toppers, and a Facebook group dedicated to the toppers has more than 8,000 members.

The Platinum Jubilee weekend will take place between 2 - 5 June.