Hey, It's The Rippon Lea Hill-billies!
The Age
Monday August 15, 1994
The four ``men" sitting in front of the gardeners' cottage at Rippon Lea estate can only be described as country bumpkins.
Their clothes are old and patched, and one fellow rests his foot on a pumpkin. Another has a straw in his mouth, while a third holds a gnarled stick.
But it is hard not to be charmed by their rustic simplicity. The men, scarecrows, actually, were made by Mr Brian Worsley for this year's Art of the Garden festival at Rippon Lea. The festival runs from 26 to 28 August, and includes a scarecrow competition on the Sunday for adults and children.
Mr Worsley, a gardener at Rippon Lea, made 10 scarecrows for last year's festival, but says the new ones are more elaborate. He made them ``in dribs and drabs" in his spare time, doing most of the work in his dining room.
The scarecrows are life-size, with skeletons of bamboo. The skin is hessian, stuffed with straw, the faces are formed from papier mache or clay, and the hair is raffia or string.
Mr Worsley sold the scarecrows he made last year to people who put them on their verandas.
© 1994 The Age
