Recycling old jokes! Man who spent £25,000 on spoof road sign for directions to fictional Welsh airport in 20-year gag before getting rid of it puts up a NEW billboard
- Nicholas Whitehead took down the original sign near Crossgates last November
- He has now put a new one after a crowdfunding campaign that raised £2,000
- It has been installed on land outside a family farm near Llandegley
A man who spent £25,000 on a sign giving directions to a fake airport in Wales has put up a new billboard after removing the old one last year.
Nicholas Whitehead took down the 20-year old spoof sign near Crossgates last November with hopes that he could make it into a official landmark.
He has now put a new one up to the east of the village following a crowdfunding campaign that raised £2,000.
It has been installed on land outside the Richards family farm near Llandegley, where it will stay permanently.
Nicholas Whitehead (pictured left) took down the 20-year old spoof sign near Crossgates last November with hopes that he could make it into a official landmark
He has now put a new one up to the east of the village following a crowdfunding campaign that raised £2,000
The billboard directs morotists towards to Terminal 1 and 3 of Llandegley International along the A44 in Powys between Rhayader and Kington.
But those who follow it are led to a field on the outskirts of Llandegley two-and-a-half miles away.
Mr. Whitehead told the BBC that when he removed the sign last year the facebook page for the fake airport gained ‘thousands’ of new followers.
He added that he needed £1,300 to put the sign back up, which cost £1,500 per year to maintain, but ended up raising £2,000 overall.
The extra £700 will be donated to the Wales Air Ambulance.
Holly Richards said: ‘We were sad to see it go, so at the first chance of having it back we were happy to put it on our land.
‘Since the sign has come back the social media response has been great. It’s become a real talking point once more.’
The billboard directs morotists towards to Terminal 1 and 3 of Llandegley International along the A44 in Powys between Rhayader and Kington. But those who follow it are led to a field on the outskirts of Llandegley two-and-a-half miles away.
Mr Whitehead, who was a journalist and editor for the Brecon and Radnor Express and once wrote with Monty Python’s Terry Jones, now keep the old sign in his garden in Wembury, Devon.
He spent £25,000 on it two decades ago after a conversation with a group friends one evening.
He said: ‘It started off as a bit of a joke, then we realised it was actually possible. It was made by Wrexham Signs, given the okay, one thing led to another and there it is.’
The sign has become a tourist attraction in the area and has been praised by local business owners.
He added: ‘I think the airport is established now – and I think the establishment should take it on.
‘It’s not exactly a national monument – but it is a national treasure.’
Source: Read Full Article
