Joffrey shows Telford youngsters the bear necessities
Pupils at a Telford school helped save the environment at the same time as coming up with a friend for their school mascot, thanks to The Chainsaw Bloke.
Joffrey Watson is a professional chainsaw carver who has appeared on television and travels all over the county and further afield to carry out commissions.
Youngsters at Newdale Primary School and Nursery were about to wave goodbye to a large beech tree which had a fungal infection meaning it needed to be cut down. But they called in Joffrey, who used the roots of the tree to create a friend for school anti-bullying mascot Buddy The Bear.
Much Wenlock based Joffrey spent six days at the Overdale school battling the elements of Storm Dudley, Eunice and Franklin and pupils got to see the work of a professional tree artist at first hand.
He said: "I get commissions from all sorts of people and organisation but this was nice because we managed to save part of the tree, and create a friend for the school mascot which mirrors their ethos of determination and resilience.
"Hopefully the new bear will act as a friend to anyone who isn't feeling great or just wants to spend some quiet time with him - it was a pleasure working at the school and I think everyone enjoyed seeing what went into the process of creating such a sculpture."
