March of the elephants

After a thoroughly wet morning I decided to take the spaniel for a walk around the Marches border town of Bishop's Castle in the afternoon arriving just as the sun appeared. I like the various painted houses here and have blipped several before but not this one decorated with hop vines and a little mouse running along it. Further down the hill you can see a giant orange elephant reaching for an apple from a girl in a window. Its impossible to photograph close up because the streets are so narrow. There are paintings, bas-relief and sculptures of elephants all over the town, an association which began with Clive of India (he lived in the town and had an elephant on his family crest). During the Second World War, several circus elephants were moved here to avoid the air raids. Apparently one got left behind at the end of the war and continued to live in the town for many years.