Uri's gorilla stays put pending flight plans
A unique 13ft gorilla made entirely from spoons is still in Shropshire after its manufacturers had to rethink their plans to transport it to celebrity Uri Geller's Thames-side home.
The huge sculpture was made at the British Ironwork Centre at Aston near Oswestry and it was planned to shift it to Mr Geller's house yesterday.
But the gorilla will be hanging around Shropshire for a while yet because they have to make a reinforced cage so it can travel down south in safety.
Company managing director Clive Knowles said: "We were planning to have it moved by now.
"But after we transported it to the Shropshire County Show at the weekend and then took it back here we thought to be extra safe we needed the cage strengthened.
"That is what we will be doing."
Mr Knowles said the advantage of the gorilla's longer than planned stay in the county was that more people could see the creation.
He said many people had contributed to collecting the 40,000 spoons which were needed to make the sculpture after many appeal for help.
Mr Knowles said about 150 people from six Shropshire schools were treated to a close up view of the gorilla this week.
He said: "It is a thank you to everyone who helped in the spoon appeal.
"People are more than welcome to come along and have a look.
"We don't know how long it will be here for, it will be a matter of days or weeks but certainly in the short term it will be here."
Mr Knowles said a plan for the transportation of the gorilla to be recorded by Channel 4 for a new reality series was hanging in the balance.
He said the firm and Channel 4 were in talks over whether it would be possible to have the movement of the large sculpture recorded as a part of a new TV show called Transport Wars.
Mr Knowles said: "We are looking at that now and seeing if it is possible."
The sculpture was unveiled by Prince Michael of Kent earlier this month at the firm's base.
It was commissioned by self-styled "mystifier" TV entertainer and mystic Geller, who is famed for bending spoons seemingly using only the power of his mind.
The statue will be placed in the grounds of Mr Geller's mansion in Berkshire, which the entertainer opens up to sick children.
Mr Knowles added that he was hoping the statue would ultimately live somewhere more accessible to the public such as the grounds of Great Ormond Street Hospital in London or Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool.
