Latest news with #Elton-Wall
CBC
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
How an abandoned couch brought joy and mystery to an English village
It was a flash of inspiration that set the community photo project in motion. On a quiet Sunday morning in early April, in the rural village of Lydbrook, England, photographer Alex Elton-Wall leapt out of bed with a mission. For weeks, he'd passed the same discarded two-seater sofa, abandoned on a patch of waste ground in the middle of the village. But that morning, something clicked. "I just jumped out of bed and I said, 'I'm doing it, I'm doing it,'" Elton-Wall told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. Elton-Wall, a self-described amateur photographer with a passion for capturing community life, was inspired by the contrast between the cozy, homely sofa and its wild woodland surroundings — and he saw the unusual setting as a chance to create a "snapshot in time" of his community. On the day he finally decided to act on the idea that had been brewing for a while. He posted a message in the local village Facebook group, inviting residents to take part. "I know this is a strange request," he wrote, "but I'd love to take pictures of people on the sofa." Community joins in To Elton-Wall's delight, the community didn't just respond — it rallied. On the first day of his photoshoot, Elton-Wall arrived with his camera at 10 a.m., and didn't pack up until 8 p.m. "There was this steady flow of people who'd seen the post or even people who just drove past and saw there was this strange guy taking pictures," he said. Over the next few weeks, he photographed 170 people. Some came alone. Others posed with their families or in groups. The portraits ranged from formal to fantastical — each one a unique reflection of the person sitting on the sofa, said Elton-Wall. Oliver Gladstone, who runs the local Gladstone Sawmills, showed up with a selection of chainsaws. Claire and Kit Smart contributed a mannequin of a human's lower half and a sheep, quickly becoming favourite props in the more whimsical photos. And some items simply appeared without explanation. "Quite quickly after the first day of me taking photographs with people, a side table appeared magically out of nowhere, and [then] a lampshade and a potted plant," said Elton-Wall. Soon, the abandoned couch had transformed into a full-blown outdoor living room — complete with curtains and a window frame. Why everyone participated Lydbrook, home to about 1,500 to 1,600 people, is a former industrial mining village known for its tight-knit community and playful spirit, according to Elton-Wall. "People like fun and mischief," he said. He recalls how a couple of years ago, someone added googly eyes to all the village signs — replacing the Os in Lydbrook with plastic eyes. The mysterious prankster was dubbed "Tumpsy"— a nod to the elusive street artist Banksy. So, when household objects started quietly appearing around the sofa, many speculated Tumpsy was back at it again. "I think people just [think] this is a bit of fun at a time when the world is serious … [with] lots of serious things happening," said Elton-Wall. A public Facebook group dedicated to the sofa was created and now has more than 600 members. People post their own portraits, speculate on the origins of the props that mysteriously appear and share behind-the-scenes stories from the growing photo archive. "The project has really united the community and brought a really nice fun sense of community pride," said Jenny Hodgson, who donned 1940s attire and a gas mask to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day for her own portrait on the sofa. The photo project also carries a deeper purpose. Elton-Wall is now compiling the portraits into a photo book, which will be sold at the village summer fair. All proceeds will go toward a local fundraising effort to build a new children's playground. The photo book will also serve as a heartwarming reminder of a one-of-a-kind moment in the village's history. But just as memories were being preserved, something unexpected happened. On Tuesday morning, Elton-Wall made a shocking and disappointing discovery: the sofa was gone. Along with it vanished the entire makeshift living room — the window frame, curtains, coffee table, side table, potted plant and lampshade — all quietly removed without a trace. "I've taken my last picture of someone sitting on the sofa," said Elton-Wall.
The Guardian
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The fly-tipped sofa: how an abandoned couch changed a small village
A sofa was dumped in the middle of Lydbrook, a village in Gloucestershire, and every time Alex Elton-Wall walked past it he found himself smiling. While he's clear he doesn't condone fly-tipping, the cream-coloured two-seater looked 'really funny,' he says, perched on a patch of waste ground, next to a road, the woods as a scenic backdrop. As an amateur photographer, he spotted an opportunity. At the start of April, a few weeks after the sofa first appeared, the 49-year-old office worker posted a message in the village Facebook group asking for people to come and pose on the sofa so he could take their portraits. That day, he says, 'I ended up taking pictures from 10 in the morning until eight o'clock that night. People were just having so much fun, and it was so bizarre what we were doing.' Since then, Elton-Wall has staged more photoshoots and taken pictures of more than 170 locals with the sofa – and even a few animals, including a tortoise, a chicken and a horse. His photoshoots have made the sofa a surprise tourist attraction, rising up the Tripadvisor rankings to become the second-best thing to do in Lydbrook (pipped only by an alpaca farm). It even has its own dedicated Facebook page, called Lydbrook Lounge, where visitors post their own pictures. 'It's become a real community and feelgood thing,' says Elton-Wall. 'You know, life's tough, the world's pretty crazy at the moment, but people have really embraced this.' Items started appearing mysteriously around the sofa; a side table with a plant pot, a hat stand, a lampshade, a rug, a coffee table and a magazine rack. Elton-Wall thinks this could be the work of a secret local artist, nicknamed Tumpsy, who was responsible for a spate of googly eyes that cropped up around the village a few years ago. 'I kept meaning to stop taking photos, but people kept asking me,' says Elton-Wall. He's taken photos of the kids' football team, staff from the local cafe serving afternoon tea, and the owner of the local timber yard posing with chainsaws – all with the sofa. 'I've got pictures of everything from kids jumping up and down on the sofa to a couple of blokes drinking pints, who were kidnapped from the local pub.' Elton-Wall, who has lived in Lydbrook for nearly 20 years, has decided to create a photo book, which he will sell at the village fete in the summer to raise money for playground equipment. 'It was just this amazing opportunity to capture a snapshot in time of the community,' he says. Yesterday, without warning, the project ended. The sofa, and all the items surrounding it, suddenly disappeared. Elton-Wall has no idea who took them and says he has mixed emotions. 'At the end of the day, fly-tipping is not to be condoned. People in the village were always clear that it would be disposed of properly.' Looking at all the comments online, mourning the loss of the sofa, one stood out to him: 'Don't be sad it's over, be glad it happened.'
BBC News
23-04-2025
- BBC News
Fly-tipped sofa becomes unlikely local attraction
A sofa dumped by the side of a road in Gloucestershire has become an unlikely tourist two-seater settee was abandoned on wasteland in the middle of the village of Lydbrook at the beginning of fly-tipping being illegal and punishable by large fines or even prison time, more furniture has since been added and the site has become a popular resting photographer Alex Elton-Wall has now taken the portraits of more than 140 nearby residents at the "homely" site. "It was just the sofa," he said. "But then a coffee table, hatstand, lampshade and a potted plant turned up, so now it's the Lydbrook Lounge."Fly-tipping is illegal and so dumping waste in this way is a criminal offence. Anyone caught fly-tipping can receive an unlimited fine if prosecuted criminally, or up to five years in prison. The beige floral sofa was left near traffic lights beside the main road through the village, with Mr Elton-Wall saying it is "very visible to everyone"."I know fly-tipping is bad but every time I drove through the village and went past it, it made me smile," he said."It looked so lonely but familiar and homely and I thought it's just crying out to have someone sit on it and have their portrait taken." He appealed on social media to anyone "brave enough" to have their photograph taken sitting on the sofa."The response was just amazing, everybody embraced it," he said."Some bought props with them. The pub landlord bought some beer barrels and the woman who runs the cafe came with all the waitresses and was serving high tea."With photoshoots set up almost everyday last week, Mr Elton-Wall has photographed more than 140 local people, along with lots of dogs, a chicken, a tortoise and a results will be appear in a photobook, which will be sold to raise money for playground equipment. The once "lonely" sofa has now become a bit of tourist attraction and has its own listing on Tripadvisor, with scores of visitors posting photographs of themselves on the Lydbrook Lounge Facebook week, the sofa was joined by a bedsit's worth of additions are thought to be the work of the village's secret artist Tumpsy, who was behind a rash of googly eyes popping up all over the village a couple of years ago."I think Tumpsy must have started bringing things to keep the sofa company," said Mr Elton-Wall."But I'd love to know who fly-tipped the sofa, [I] bet they're laughing and finding this all absolutely hilarious."
