A lorry driver has been hailed after spending six weeks restoring a village’s historic sign entirely by hand.
Craig Jenkins spent dozens of hours on the ornately carved, wooden sign.
The 50-year-old piece had become rotten.
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It stands at the boundary of the ancient village of Hethersett, near Norwich, where he lives.
It carries a depiction of an oak tree, a red deer and ancient St Remigius church.
But the self-taught woodworker took it upon himself to save it after noticing how sad it looked.
He removed the rotten wood, blended new pieces of oak in and finished it by sanding and painting, as reported by, What’s The Jam.
Craig, 56, said: “It’s fifty years old and a lovely carving.
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“Taking it on was scary as it was in desperate need of attention.
“I’m sure the locals were wondering where their sign was.
“It was made of oak.
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“And it was a great piece of workmanship.
“I was honoured to be able to bring it back.
I saw some paperwork relating to its construction and it was fascinating.
“But it needed a lot of work.
“In places, the wood had rotted too much or pieces had fallen off, so my first job was to replace the worst parts or make new.
But it was fantastic when the sign was complete and was put back in its home.
“It was a pleasure to restore.”
A spokesperson for Hethersett Parish Council thanked Craig, saying: “A big thank you to Craig Jenkins for his hard work on our beautiful new sign.
“It looks wonderful.”
Locals loved it too.
One said: “Looks fantastic.”
Another said: “Cracking job mate.”
And another added: “It looks spectacular.”
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