8:40am Wednesday 24th February 2010
A GROUP of expert wood craftsmen have put the final touches on a special wren.
The Essex School of Woodcarving, based in Billericay, has created a carving of a wren for the National Memorial Arboretum garden in Staffordshire, which remembers fallen service men and women.
Taking a team of five carvers just over a month to create, the wren is in memory of 22 people who died in the Atlantic ocean when the SS Aguila passenger ship was sunk by torpedo in 1941.
The statue stands 3ft tall and is carved in laminated Brazilian cedar wood.
Peter Benson, 73, who runs the woodcarving school, said it had been a pleasure to create the bird.
He said: “It’s our way of doing our bit and it has been a wonderful experience.”
Other woodcarvings by the school for the garden include a two-and-a-half tonne polar bear.
The wren will be unveiled at the gardens this spring.
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