JUMBO DISPLAY

Just before the Elephant Parade left London in June, the entire herd were corralled in the grounds of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, where thousands of pachyderm-lovers went to to bid them farewell – including me!

There they were, lined up, row by row...

And here are a few of the those (not previously sighted on this blog) that caught my eye, beginning, appropriately considering the setting for their gathering, with a Chelsea Pensioner Elephant...

There were, amongst the ranks, elephants disguised as other animals...

Birds...

And even bugs...

Not mention, flowers...

Fruit...

And vegetables...

Literary tributes included an elephant covered with quotes from Ian Fleming's James Bond books...

And one for fans of Sherlock Holmes... "It's elephantry, my dear Watson!"

And a particular favourite of mine featuring a hare and moon...

...with, in the eye of the hare, the sign of the Infanta de Castile – the Elephant and Castle...

I even, finally, managed to track down the elusive Cloudia who made her first widely publicised appearance going round on the London Eye and then (presumably with help) moved around town to different locations.

And then it was time to go...

"TAXI!!"

Images: Brian Sibley © 2010. You can visit all the elephants I herded up (284 of them!) on my flickr set, Elephant Parade.

ELEPHANTASIES

The Toy Dolls singing 'Nellie the Elephant' on Top of the Pops back in 1985. Of course, I'm so ancient that I can cast my mind back almost thirty years earlier to the original 1956 recording of Ralph Butler and Peter Hart's song as perfprmed by twelve-year old Mandy Miller.

The version, however, is immaterial since I include it here as a farewell trumpet-call to mark the fact that the pachyderms of Elephant Parade London 2010 are packing their trunks and preparing to head off into the sunset with a trumpety-trump, trump-trump-trump!

Their extinction (at least their disappearance from their various sites around the city) began last Sunday but you can view the herd at the Royal Hospital Chelsea today and tomorrow and Wednesday 28 June. Admission is free and is from 10am to 7pm. Meanwhile the indoor herd can currently be viewed at Westfield Shopping Centre, where they will remain until Wednesday 30 June.

And so, as the parade passes by, here's a farewell tribute featuring some of my favourite elephantasies...

Photo: Sophie Walpole

Photo: David Weeks

Photo: Sophie Walpole

Photo: David Weeks

You can find out more about this art-event-cum-fund-raising project by visiting Elephant Family; and you can see the newly extended Sibley herd (with guest contributions from Sophie Walpole and David Weeks) on my Elephant Parade flickr Album.

ELEPHANTASTIC!

I've been elephant hunting again and have brought back some more trophies from Elephant Parade, London 2010...

If you're going in search of this engaging quarry, then the first thing you need is a map.

And, by the way, there's even an map-covered elephant....

They can be found in the vicinity of many notable monuments, such as Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square...

Tower Bridge and the offices of the London Assembly and the Mayor of London...

Outside the Royal Opera House...

And the Indian Embassy...

The more of these creatures I track down the more I look for the unusual such as this elephant covered with fish-eye windows...

...that allow one to look in and see a city inside the elephant that is, itself, crowded with elephants!

Part of the fun of the Elephant Parade is watching how people respond to the creatures: snuggling up to them...

Making formal genuflections...

Or just ignoring them...

You can find out more about this art-event-cum-fund-raising project by visiting Elephant Family; and you can see the newly extended Sibley herd (just a few of the 250 currently inhabiting our city) on my Elephant Parade flickr Album.

ELEPHANTS IN THE PARK

On my first day of blogging in May 2007, I wrote about the visit to London of The Sultan's Elephant, four years on, the capital is once again in the thrall of elephant power with Elephant Parade, London 2010.

Dumbo, you may recall, had inebriated dreams of "pink elephants on parade". Last weekend in Green Park - wide awake and and stone cold sober - we encountered elephants of all colours, shades and hues.

Here are a few favourites...

No sign of that colour which used to be designated on cotton reels in my Mum's needlework basket as 'Elephant Grey'!!

And the elephants in Green Park are just a few of the 250 brightly painted life-size baby elephants located all over central London this summer as part of a three month event to focus public attention on the urgent crisis faced by the endangered Asian elephant.

Each decorated by a different artist or celebrity, the elephants will be found in parks, at street corner and around (and in) well-known buildings. Running from May to July 2010, this is London’s biggest outdoor art event on record and aims to raise £2 million for the Asian elephant and benefit 20 UK conservation charities.

The artworks themselves will be sold by auction and you can buy your own minature replicas on line or at Selfridges, 80 Regent St, 36 Carnaby St and Greenwich Central Market.

You'll find more about this imaginative project by visiting Elephant Family; and you can see the whole of my herd (just a few of the 250 currently inhabiting our city) on my Elephant Parade flickr Album.