Snowy Farr

Last updated
Snowy Farr Sculpture Snowy Farr sculpture by Gary Webb, 8 August 2012.jpg
Snowy Farr Sculpture

Walter "Snowy" Farr MBE (b. 1919; d. Oakington, Cambridgeshire, 8 March 2007) was a British charity fundraiser who mostly operated in the streets of Cambridge, England. Over several decades Farr collected many thousands of pounds for The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. In recognition of his efforts, he received an MBE in November 1995. [1] Farr was usually seen in eccentric clothing, often incorporating antique military wear, and accompanied by tame animals, including mice, cats, dogs and even a goat. [1]

A former local authority road sweeper, [2] Farr lived in one of the terraced cottages on the main road through the village of Westwick, and later (after he had retired) moved to the adjacent village of Oakington and a bungalow whose garden contained a display of flags, dolls and teddy-bears. [2] This collection was occasionally reduced in scale and exuberance in response to the demands of the local Council. A board outside the house recorded a 'running total' of the donations he had collected.

For many years, Farr also maintained the graveyard of St Andrews church in Oakington.

In September 1977, Farr led a procession of 150 children around Cambridge city centre, filming for a TV show which never went ahead. Brief panic resulted when he became confused and took a wrong turn. [3]

A newspaper article from 2002 reported that Farr had been commended by the Cambridgeshire Society for the Blind and Partially Sighted after raising £62,005 for the charity; it also reported that he had raised £33,700 for Guide Dogs for the Blind and £28,305 for Cam Sight, which supports people with sight loss in and around Cambridge. [4]

Farr died on 8 March 2007. [2] Within a short time, suggestions were made on a local newsgroup [5] that a statue to Farr ought to be erected near the site at the end of Petty Cury where he habitually collected. On 3 March 2009, Cambridge City Council announced the decision that a memorial of some kind would indeed be erected.

A Snowy Farr memorial artwork, designed by Gary Webb, [6] was unveiled outside the Guildhall in Cambridge's Market Square in August 2012. The statue resembles a combination of Farr's tame cat and mice, whereby his cat was trained to sit atop his hat, and the mice trained to run circuits of the rim.

Related Research Articles

Pet Animal kept for companionship rather than utility

A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence and relatable personalities, but some pets may be taken in on an altruistic basis and accepted by the owner regardless of these characteristics.

East Anglia Region of England

East Anglia is a geographical area in the East of England. The area included has varied but the legally defined NUTS 2 statistical unit comprises the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, including the City of Peterborough unitary authority area. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a tribe whose name originated in Anglia, in what is now northern Germany.

St Ives, Cambridgeshire Human settlement in England

St Ives is a market town and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England, 5 miles (8 km) east of Huntingdon and 12 miles (19 km) north-west of Cambridge. Historically in Huntingdonshire, St Ives is in the non-metropolitan district of the same name which covers a similar area to the historic county.

Marc Quinn is a British contemporary visual artist whose work includes sculpture, installation, and painting. Quinn explores "what it is to be human in the world today" through subjects including the body, genetics, identity, environment, and the media. His work has used materials that vary widely, from blood, bread and flowers, to marble and stainless steel. Quinn has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Sir John Soane's Museum, the Tate Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Fondation Beyeler, Fondazione Prada and South London Gallery. The artist was a notable member of the Young British Artists movement.

Burwell, Cambridgeshire Village in Cambridgeshire, England

Burwell is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England, some 10 miles north-east of Cambridge. It lies on the south-east edge of the Fens. Westward drainage is improved by Cambridgeshire lodes (waterways), including Burwell Lode, a growth factor in the village. A population of 6,309 in the 2011 census was put at 6,417 in 2019.

<i>Tintin in America</i> Comic album by Belgian cartoonist Hergé

Tintin in America is the third volume of The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. Commissioned by the conservative Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle for its children's supplement Le Petit Vingtième, it was serialized weekly from September 1931 to October 1932 before being published in a collected volume by Éditions du Petit Vingtième in 1932. The story tells of young Belgian reporter Tintin and his dog Snowy who travel to the United States, where Tintin reports on organized crime in Chicago. Pursuing a gangster across the country, he encounters a tribe of Blackfoot Native Americans before defeating the Chicago crime syndicate.

<i>Flight 714 to Sydney</i> Comic album by Belgian cartoonist Hergé

Flight 714 to Sydney is the twenty-second volume of The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. It was serialised weekly from September 1966 to November 1967 in Tintin magazine. The title refers to a flight that Tintin and his friends fail to catch, as they become embroiled in their arch-nemesis Rastapopoulos' plot to kidnap an eccentric millionaire from a supersonic business jet on a Sondonesian island.

<i>Red Rackhams Treasure</i> Comic album by Belgian cartoonist Hergé

Red Rackham's Treasure is the twelfth volume of The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. The story was serialised daily in Le Soir, Belgium's leading francophone newspaper, from February to September 1943 amidst the German occupation of Belgium during World War II. Completing an arc begun in The Secret of the Unicorn, the story tells of young reporter Tintin and his friend Captain Haddock as they launch an expedition to the Caribbean to locate the treasure of the pirate Red Rackham.

Reality Checkpoint Lamppost in Cambridge, UK

Reality Checkpoint is a large cast-iron lamppost in the middle of Parker's Piece, Cambridge, England, at the intersection of the park's diagonal paths.

<i>North Sea Hijack</i> 1980 film

North Sea Hijack is a 1980 British action film starring Roger Moore, Lea Brodie, James Mason, Anthony Perkins and Michael Parks. It was directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and adapted by Jack Davies from his novel, Esther, Ruth and Jennifer.

British big cats Reports of large non-native feline sightings in Britain

In British folklore, British big cats, also referred to as ABCs, phantom cats and mystery cats, feature in reported sightings of large Felidae in the British countryside. These creatures have been described as "panthers", "pumas" or "black cats".

Trumpington Human settlement in England

Trumpington is a village and former civil parish on the outskirts of Cambridge, England, on the southwest side of the city bordering Cherry Hinton to the east, Grantchester to the west and Great Shelford and Little Shelford to the southeast. The village is an electoral ward of the City of Cambridge. The 2011 Census recorded the ward's population as 8,034.

Dr John Saltmarsh was a historian and Fellow of King's College, Cambridge.

Earith Human settlement in England

Earith is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. Earith lies approximately 10 miles (16 km) east of Huntingdon. Earith is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well as being a historic county of England. At Earith, two artificial diversion channels of the River Great Ouse, the Old Bedford River and the New Bedford River, leave the river on a course to Denver Sluice near Downham Market, where they rejoin the Great Ouse in its tidal part. At the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 1,677, reducing to 1,606 at the 2011 Census.

Cambridgeshire Guided Busway

The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway, known locally as The Busway, connects Cambridge, Huntingdon and St Ives in the English county of Cambridgeshire. It is the longest guided busway in the world, overtaking the O-Bahn Busway in Adelaide, South Australia.

Gary Webb is a British artist. He makes sculptures out of industrial materials, often achieving comic effects with the use of sound.

Ely, Cambridgeshire Cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England

Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, about 14 miles (23 km) north-northeast of Cambridge and about 80 miles (129 km) by road from London.

Bradbury Fields British charity organisation

Bradbury Fields is a charity based in Liverpool, UK, which works with blind and partially sighted people. It has been described by the BBC as "Liverpool's main charity for the blind" and is part of the 800 Group, a consortium of Merseyside health and care charities.

Lord Toby Jug

Lord Toby Jug was a British politician. He was the leader of the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire branch of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, serving as the party's media officer and a prospective parliamentary candidate, until being expelled from the Loony Party in 2014. He founded The Eccentric Party of Great Britain in 2015.

Cambridge War Memorial

Cambridge War Memorial is a war memorial on Hills Road, Cambridge, outside Cambridge University Botanic Garden. It comprises a bronze statue of a marching soldier by Canadian sculptor Robert Tait McKenzie, known as "The Homecoming" or sometimes "Coming Home", mounted on a heavily carved limestone plinth. It was unveiled in 1922, and became a Grade II listed building in 1996.

References

  1. 1 2 "Snowy Farr commemorative sculpture". Cambridge City Council. Retrieved 22 May 2015.[ permanent dead link ]
  2. 1 2 3 "Snowy the eccentric". BBC. Retrieved 2015-05-22.
  3. ↑ "Cambridge Evening News", September 18, 2002 Archived September 26, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "Cambridge Evening News" [ dead link ], November 28, 2002
  5. ↑ "cam.misc newsgroup", thread in response to Snowy's death
  6. ↑ (PDF) http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/public/docs/Proposal_2_Gary_Webb.pdf . Retrieved 22 May 2015.Missing or empty |title= (help)[ permanent dead link ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.