Giant Foamhenge dream crumbles into oblivion
THE quest for Foamhenge is over and the mighty stones lie in ruins. North Wiltshire District Council leader Carol O'Gorman has admitted defeat in her battle to bring the polystyrene replica of Stonehenge to the district.
She overcame problems with planning, transportation and protective coatings but finally the project was vanquished by the elements themselves. It turned out the foam blocks were being stored under a tarpaulin in a field and a quarter were already broken.
Coun O'Gorman said she was very disappointed. "It would have been magnificent," she said. "Foamhenge would have been a part of the Rural Life museum at Wiltshire College Lackham and it would have attracted tourists as well as serving as an educational tool.
"It would have been great."
Foamhenge was the nickname given to a full size replica of Stonehenge created by a television company for a Channel 5 reality programme. Afterwards the makers offered it as a tourist attraction and historical resource to the district council.
But there were difficulties to sort out first such as a good location, and a method of coating the blocks so they would last, out in the weather.
The first proposed site at Wiltshire College Lackham was considered too close to the setting of the Grade II listed Lackham House, but another, more appropriate site was identified and received a positive reaction from planning officers.
Coun O'Gorman also set up talks with Webber International, a company which could have coated the 171 five-metre tall handcrafted polystyrene blocks with fibreglass.
The entire Foamhenge complex would have covered an area of about 30 metres square and weighed more than six tonnes.
The spectacular attraction would have given visitors an accurate impression of Stonehenge in its prime and unlike the real thing, it would be available for close-up inspection.
The district council was under the impression the Foamhenge stones were stored in an aircraft hangar in Northampton but in fact it turned out they were covered with tarpaulins in a field, and Coun O'Gorman's dreams of bringing the monument to Chippenham have crumbled along with the polystyrene stones.
RAF Lyneham had agreed to transport the stones from Northampton to Wiltshire and in August Bedfordshire company Saint-Gobain Webber said it could coat each of the stones in cement mortar to make the polystyrene look more like the real thing, as a publicity exercise.
Coun O'Gorman said: "Everyone wanted to see it happen. If anyone knows how the broken stones can be mended can they please get in touch with me?"
Nacressa Swan of Darlow Smithson Production Ltd, the company that made the original Channel 5 programme, said: "It is very disappointing. This was the only symbol of Stonehenge as it was, not as the ruin it is today."
Julian Ware, executive producer of the programme, said: "It is a shame they looked fantastic when all set up, but they were only designed to last a week.
"It would be relatively easy to repair them but it would probably cost a five figure sum."
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