The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Wellington as never seen before
A boy recreated a statue of the Duke of Wellington for a lockdown school project by sitting on his pet pig with a traffic cone on his head.
Charlie Jones, nine, asked Santa for a pet pig for Christmas and was delighted to be given Chloe, a 300kg sow who was pregnant.
During the lockdown he was tasked with recreating a famous statue as part of a project for his school, Ardvreck, in Perth and Kinross.
Charlie, who kept one of the piglets as a pet, chose the Duke of Wellington statue in Glasgow, which he saw two years ago. He found a traffic cone which had been left in a ditch near the family’s farm in Campbeltown, Argyll and Bute, to wear on his head.
Mum Hannah Jones, 44, said: “Charlie has always really liked pigs, and he wanted a pet sow for Christmas.
“Chloe lives in our farmyard and Charlie sees her twice a day,” she said.
“During the lockdown Charlie has fed her every morning before schoolwork.
“The project was to recreate a famous statue and, having quite a sense of humour, Charlie had always remembered that statue,” she said.
“Chloe is really friendly, and I put him on the back of her and stood next to him to take the photo,” she said. “Chloe was eating so she wasn’t really concerned about anything else.”
She praised Ardvreck for coming up with imaginative ideas for children during the lockdown.
Mum-of-four Hannah, who works in nursery education, said: “Charlie saw the statue two years ago. He thought it was so funny.
“He wants to be a farmer or a clown when he grows up. He grew up idolising Tweedy the clown who performs at a circus in Gloucestershire.”