G is for Gnome Village

When I travelled-up to London in the summer I was lucky-enough to see Peter Evans' Gnome village, hidden at the top of his garden in North London, and be allowed to video it!

I think we should look at the video first, although I'm afraid it's gone a bit jerky, and I don't know why; other video's have worked perfectly, but I suspect it's down to the lighting on the day, crating large- image size or something (this is the third save and it's still 25MB?), I like to think I know what I'm doing with all this digital malarkey, but I suspect a closer truth is that I know what I'm trying to be doing!

There are many monikers for little-folk; Elves, Gnomes, Dwarves, Fairies, Pixies and Trolls (of the Russ Berry verity, not the warty, live-goat eating, bridge-sitters of European folk-fable!) and fail-not - for fear of something untoward happening - to mention Leprechauns!

Peter has all of them in his little hamlet, although there's not much to differentiate between Gnomes and Dwarves as represented in popular culture (prior to Mr. Tolkien's intervention that is), think Snow White . . . miners, bobble-hats, mushrooms, big boots, small cottages . . . now Mordor's shenanigans and the Nottingham Mafia have rendered dwarves as fierce armoured warriors in the popular imagination, I think we will stick with 'Gnome' here!

They (the Ger'nomes) are living in an eclectic mix of plastic infant toys, resin garden ornaments and novelty bird-table/nesting-box type things in various materials, including wood, but all to a pretty constant scale range between maybe 50-70mm? The overall-look is stunning, and sympathetic planting has left them all in a delightfully [in-scale] wooded setting.

Cake decoration taking to Tobar's chap.

Peter puts them out in the spring and takes them in at the end of the summer, sometimes heralded on Faceplant, so their fame is growing and the community can look quite different from year to year, although I think they get added to constantly and might need to invade expand next-door one day!

The other main point to make is the effort which goes not just into setting the hamlet up each year, but the daily work necessitated by such fiendish foes as urban foxes, cats, squirrels, falling twigs, probably even large lorries catching the odd manhole-cover over the fence on the way past!

There's a wooing going on!

While I was there, Peter had to errr . . . 'first respond' to a minor earthquake which had occurred at the East end of the village; a sandy-whiskered assassin was the main suspect, fortunately all was restored with a practiced hand . . . and an over-practiced mutter about foxes!

I rather liked this chap; at first glance while doing the video I thought he was a Tellytubby, but he's just had a very long hat knitted for him by his Nan' and rolls it up to keep it out of his eyes!

A couple of more fairy-like or pixy-folk, they looked like they were old ceramic or bisque figurines, but true to the cause of the hobby (certainly truer than me, I collect any old material!), they are plastic. I think it was a styrene, but as you can see they are very finely done with a glaze-wash and still look ceramic.

I also loved this chap (seated) as he can only be used on a surface which will allow his right leg to hang over the edge, a clever pose really? I seem to have cropped-off the target of more wooing . . . it's quite a fertile village - obviously!

My favourite - "Wake me when the evening's start to draw in . . . or if somebody fills me'bottle"

Many-many thanks to Mr. Evans, a real treat and a joy to behold . . . and not a soldier in sight!