LORD OF THE RINGS
‘Britain’s dullest man’ unveils the International Roundabout Of The Year
‘BRITAIN’S dullest man’ has unveiled the international roundabout of the year after a “heated” discussion in a pub.
Kevin Beresford is famous for travelling the length and breadth of the country in search of the best roundabouts the UK has to offer, BirminghamLive reports.
Redditch’s resident roundabout spotter has spent 17 years in pursuit of junction perfection and even founded the Roundabout Appreciation Society.
The 68-year-old, who has described himself as the ‘dullest man in Britain’, regularly creates calendars with pictures of his favourites.
He has also branched out into other avenues over the years - his latest project is a calendar dedicated entirely to car parks.
And now the self-styled ‘Lord of the Rings’ , along with other members of the roundabout committee, has revealed they have selected their international roundabout of the year after a ‘heated’ discussion in a pub the West Midlands town of Redditch.
Describing how his fascination with the mundane started, Kevin said it started back in 2003.
“I was running a small printing company in Redditch and each year we would give a calendar to our customers,” he said. “For that particular year, we thought we would do something a bit different.”
As a bit of a joke, they decided to go with the theme of roundabouts, something Redditch has plenty off he says. However,
he didn’t anticipate how popular it would become.
“It was on the GrahamNortonShow and it went worldwide after that,” he said. “We couldn’t keep up with the requests - it was an amazing experience.
“That’s when I became interested in roundabouts and it became a bit of a hobby.”
After visiting almost countless roundabouts up and down the country, he says his favourites from the West Midlands include Spitfire Island in Castle Bromwich and one in Tewkesbury which features a wooden horse statue.
Kevin has now taken his love of roundabouts to a global stage and recently settled on International Roundabout of the Year with other enthusiasts.
After a lively debate in a Redditch pub, they decided on a roundabout in Canberra, Australia which was painted the colours of the rainbow to mark the same-sex marriage Yes vote.
“The committee met in a pub in Redditch and we had arguments about what’s going to be our roundabouts of the year,” he said.
“We don’t get too serious - sometimes its gets heated though.”
His previous endeavors include the best phone boxes of Wales and documenting Birmingham’s famous number 11 Outer Circle bus route as well as football statues. During the past ten years, Kevin has been his juggling his roundabout commitments while also visiting hundreds of car parks across the country, from multistoreys to pay and displays.
Photographs of his favourite car parks will be published in a calendar being released just in time for Christmas this year.
“My favourite one is demolished now but it was the car park that was used in the Michael Caine movie GetCarter in Gateshead,” he said. “There’s also one in Edinburgh which was featured in the film trainspotting.”
However, finding others which share his passion for car parks has proved tricky.
“I started The Car Park Appreciation
Society 10 years ago but but nobody has joined,” he said. “It’s a bit sad.”
“It’s just something that interests me,” he continued. “These are things which are there in our every day lives but are never discussed.
“I quite like that I’m taking pictures of things which may soon disappear from everyday life. A lot of artists also do quite mundane things like Andy Warhol’s Soup Cans or Tracy Emin’s bed.
“It’s a hobby anyone can do — all you need is a phone, notepad and an anorak.”