MALVERN is well known for its many picturesque outdoor settings, but now a dragon has come to town.
The mythical creature can be seen at the grounds of the Dell House after its owners Kevin and Elizabeth Rolph decided to bring ‘something a little bit different’ to the historic B&B venue.
The wooden dragon stands tall and proud on top of a chestnut tree stump in the gardens surrounding the 19th Century building on Green Lane after it was made by talented carver Steve Elsby.
The dragon is not the only mysterious carved creature in the gardens as it is being joined by an owl and Wisewood, the Green Man.
Carving the dragon took a couple of days to complete and cost the owners more than £1,000.
Mr Rolph told The Observer the dragon was something they had been wanting to do for some time and was part of a long term plan to bring life back to the gardens.
“We’ve owned the property for more than a year now but for once we wanted to buy something exciting,” he said.
“Me and Elizabeth thought about what we wanted and decided we’d like to have a dragon in the garden as we both like dragons.
“We want to bring some life back to the garden and we felt a dragon would certainly help to do that.
“The dragon has been popular so far and guests have come to us saying ‘wow that’s fantastic’. We decided not to tell them its there so when they look around they can then see the dragon looking down on them.
“We are thrilled with it and hopefully this creates some kind of legacy for the Dell House in years to come. The dragon is a symbol for our plans for the future.”
Mr Elsby, who is based in Herefordshire, said he was proud with the finished look to the dragon.
“I’ve made quite a few dragons but I think this was the most awkward I’ve done because I was on scaffolding about 25 foot high,” he said.
“But I was really made up with it and I’m glad the owners like it.”
Around 20 people attended a special naming ceremony at the Dell House last week where it was named Tamakander.
The ceremony was performed by Maggie Forrest, a civil celebrant at tapestry ceremonies.
