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Ashford's Bolt roundabout in Elwick Road gets Christmas makeover as tradition continues

13:08, 18 December 2021

updated: 13:22, 18 December 2021

A mystery resident has struck again and continued a Kent town's favourite Christmas tradition.

The Bolt Roundabout in Elwick Road, Ashford, is decorated every year for events like Christmas and Halloween.

The Bolt roundabout has been given a Christmas makeover. Picture: Matthew Ball
The Bolt roundabout has been given a Christmas makeover. Picture: Matthew Ball

Originally intended to highlight Ashford's railway heritage, a mystery resident has transformed the sculpture into - what appears to be - a fairy.

Matthew Ball, who is the president of Ashford Barbarians RFC, took the picture of this year's design and shared it on Facebook.

He has branded it the "best one yet", and added: "Every year someone decorates it with something festive. As a local resident, the mystery is we never know or see them do it.

"I feel we should name whoever does these our very own Ashford Banksy."

His post has attracted hundreds of likes and dozens of comments after it was shared in a local group.

The Bolt roundabout was given a Covid-related Christmas makeover last year
The Bolt roundabout was given a Covid-related Christmas makeover last year

"Imagine walking down the road drunk and you see that," one person commented on the post. "[It would] scare you to death."

Another person wrote: "[I] hate the bolt. [I] love this. [It] looks so much better - can it be there forever?"

One motorist said: "We have just driven past and my little ones loved it. Thank you!"

Last year, it was transformed into a mask-wearing reindeer amid the pandemic.

The tradition of decorating the Bolt goes back at least seven years when an unknown artist added holly leaves and berries to make it look like a Christmas pudding in December 2014.

The Bolt in Elwick Road, Ashford, was dressed as a snowman in 2015. Picture: Alan Langley
The Bolt in Elwick Road, Ashford, was dressed as a snowman in 2015. Picture: Alan Langley

The next year, the controversial bolt sculpture was adorned with a snowman façade for Christmas.

But it has also been decorated throughout the year as an Easter Bunny and a ghost for Halloween.

Despite some people calling for the bolt's design to be changed or removed entirely, the tradition of transforming it for special holidays is certainly a popular one.

Two siblings also spread Christmas cheer through festive additions to the nearby Drover's Roundabout, however they have denied any involvement in the annual Bolt makeover.

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