When a Shropshire pub was left with a gaping hole in its roof after gale force winds blew off slates its landlord came up with an unusual way to plug the gap.
Faced with water dripping into The Bull’s Head in Telford, Robin Dawson decided to carry out his own emergency repair - he took a large umbrella and poked it through the hole in the roof to stop rain leaking into the attic of the pub.
And people passing the Wrockwardine Wood pub cannot help but look twice after spotting the distinctive yellow and black umbrella resting on the roofside.
Landlady Trisha Dawson today said her husband’s eccentric plumbing device had become the talking point of the area, to the amusement of residents.
She said a number of slates were blown off the roof during last week’s storms, but said the damage could not be put right immediately because of the continued strong winds.
Mrs Dawson said: “When we had the bad storms the other day the wind blew a lot of slates off the roof and it’s left a big hole in the roof.
“So my dear husband had this brainwave to put an umbrella through. He went into the loft, popped the umbrella through the hole and has tied it securely into the loft with rope.”
She added: “It looks so funny. It’s become a real talking point in the pub. Everyone’s been talking about it because when you come down the road all you see is this big golf umbrella sticking out of the roof.”
She said it was hoped the roof could be repaired this week, but in the meantime the umbrella seemed to be doing the trick.
“They weren’t able to repair it for a while because of the strong winds - it’s quite high so there was no way anyone would go up there with the winds as they were,” she said.
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