Eccentric street theatre makes Newbury smile

Meet Hodman Dodmanott and his wife Sally Forth, the pint-sized travellers known as the Flying Buttresses

AS street theatre goes it was up there as one of the bizarrest experiences Newbury has enjoyed.

Two diminutive elderly travellers, the Flying Buttresses, took a stroll around Newbury Market Place today (Saturday) extracting bemused looks, belly laughs and big smiles from passers-by.

The pint-sized pair, named Hodman Dodmanott and his wife Sally Forth, were brought to Newbury by the Corn Exchange and clearly enjoyed their stroll through the market and area near the town hall, chatting to children and their parents and taking in the colour of everything around them.

The news about Christmas has only just reached their "far off" home country of Obliva and they were determined to find out what the children of Newbury made of the festive season.

Youngsters were drawn to the quirky costumes, and their parents were even more intrigued.

Jothy Davies (pictured above), from Newbury, said she had not expected to have been accosted by a pair of quirky cartoony characters when she came to the town do to her shopping but loved it.

"I think it's great fun, very creative and very entertaining, the children love it," she said.

Upon exiting the Corn Exchange building at around 12.40pm, the pair wandered through the market where they first caught Newbury resident Glenn Ford somewhat unawares.

"I thought that was rather interesting, I certainly wasn't expecting anything like that. Very unusual but great to see," he said.

Braserie Gerard waitress Sali Jones was on her way to buy cream when she stopped to watch the unusual scenes.

"Very cool. Very interesting, I think it brings something different to the Market Place," she said.

Compton resident Jane Thompson-Gilliam said their pair were "Pied Piperesque" in the way in which they held children in their thrall.

The show ran for around 45 minutes before the pair were shepherded back into the safety of the Corn Exchange building before their reappearance at 3pm.

The Christmas event was funded by Greenham Common Trust.

See this week's Newbury Weekly News for more.