The Great Gromit Auction Bristol Post 09 October 2013

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3Wednesday, October 9, 2013 www. .co.uk

The Gromit Auction

ITwas always going to be big – butno one could have predicted justhow huge the impact of unleash-ing decorated dogs on to thestreets of Bristol was going to be.

The charity arts trail benefited fromits association with Aardman and,most notably, the popular pooch fromthe Oscar-winning Wallace and Gro-mit films.And on Thursday the sculptures

fetched more than £2.3 million forWallace and Gromit’s Grand Appeal,the Bristol Royal Hospital for Chil-dren charity for which the dog ismascot.A public arts trail featuring Wal-

lace’s sidekick was thought up twoyears ago. But at every stage it grewbeyond the expectations of everyoneinvolved.NickPark admitted hewas nervous

at the idea of asking artists to puttheir mark on his character, worriedthey would not be up for the chal-lenge. But huge international namesfrom theworlds of art and animation,a host of celebrities, high-profile fash-ion designers and local artists agreedto take part.And when the Grand Appeal gave

businesses and organisations in thecity the chance to sponsor one of theGromits last year, the demand to bepart of the project was so huge thatthe number of sculptures rose froman initial pack of 60 to 70 and finally80 dogs.After they took up their new homes

around Bristol and beyond, the sculp-tures proved so popular that hun-dreds of thousands of people visitedthem. Some made short trips acrossthe city to take in the trail, whileothers journeyed from all corners ofthe UK and the world to see thestatues. About 4,500 photographswere sent into the Bristol Post byGromit fans keen to have their pic-ture included in the pages of thenewspaper and on its website as thecity was gripped by Gromit fever.People queued for hours as demand

to see all the decorated dogs in oneplace during the Greatest Dog Showon Earth exhibition last month ex-ceeded the expectations of organ-isers. Opening hours were extendedand an extra day was added as peopledemonstrated their commitment toseeing the whole collection of Gro-mits.But despite the excitement that sur-

rounded the trail throughout thesummer, no-one could have predicted

SUMMER SENSATION ENDSIN A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

● Gromit Unleashed auctioneer Tim Wonnacott with Gromit Lightyear, which sold for £65,000

After a sensational summeron the streets of Bristol,those lovable Gromitsexceeded expectations whenauctioned for charity.Vicki Mathias looks at thephenomenon of GromitUnleashed and how it will godown in Bristol’s history.

just how big the auction night wouldbe. In the cavernousmarquee outsideThe Mall at Cribbs Causeway, tele-vision presenter Tim Wonnacottworked his auctioneer magic on thegathered crowd.Dancing deftly between bids as

they were batted between the packedtent and the internet, the Sotheby’sauctioneer kept the roomentertainedwhile also ensuring the sale contin-ued to move. He engaged with po-tential bidders, chatting, joking andoccasionally flirting with them as heattempted to eke every pound out ofthe 500-strong audience.The Bargain Hunt presenter

likened hosting an auction to acting.He said therewas a “nervousmomentbeforewhen you arewondering if it is

going to work – but by the time youget going you have a bit of fun”.He said the scale of the auction

made Gromit Unleashed bigger thanmost charity auctions, which tend tobe part of another event withhalf-a-dozen to a dozen items.Mr Wonnacott said: “This auction

had a lot of lots, and a lot of interestfrom everybody who had the oppor-tunity with the trail to look at them,and fall in love with one or two.”But despite the 92 lots – including

the secret 81st Gromit and 11 mini-ature statues – Mr Wonnacott keptthe auction moving. Even with theonline auction stalling occasionallyhe managed to keep the bids rollingso that the event was wrapped upwithin three hours and ten minutes.

He described the auction as an“all-round, resounding success ofwhich the people of Bristol should bevery proud”.MrWonnacott said: “It must be one

of themost successful charity sales inthe UK. It has also been an absolutepleasure for me to be involved.”The audience played their part in

proceedings, getting into the spirit ofthe night by cheering and clappingenthusiastically as the bids rose andlandmark figures were reached.From the first Gromit, Patch –

which went from £6,500 to £36,000 inminutes – to the final small Gromit,painted by patients at the children’shospital and which sold for £21,000,the audience maintained their ex-citement throughout.

CONTENTS

Every Gromit tellsa story .... p4,5&13We take a look at thevariety of stories behindthose amazing purchases

On behalf ofbeautiful, fragileEsmee, thank youall ............... p6&7Bristol Post editorMike Norton explainshis very personal reasonfor backing the appeal

I think a little bitof history wasmade in Bristoltonight ........... p8Appeal director NicolaMasters describes oneemotional evening

After 20 years itfelt like I had beenbuilding up to this...................... p10The auction night was adream come true forone Gromit ‘superfan’

I’d go and makesure people weretreating him well...................... p10Aardman co-founderPeter Lord on seeing hisGromit on the streets

I started to get atingling right upthe back of myneck .............. p12For Nick Park, thesuccess has been asurprise from the start

The Magnificent 80................. p16&17So here they are ... 80Gromits all on one pageto pull out and keep!

And here’s whatthey all went for............. p18 to 30From Lot 1 to Lot 92,check out each Gromitand its winning bid

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4 Wednesday, October 9, 2013www. .co.uk

The Gromit Auction The Gromit Auction

● Tony Barrett-Jones and son Troy. Businessman Mr Barrett-Jones paid£32,000 for strawberry Gromit Gromberry

● Col Needhamand his familybought the CanisMajor sculpturefor £26,000

Galaxy-inspireddog given homenot far, far away

Gromit bidder’s double delight● BRISTOL property developerCharles Hack bought two Gromits –to put in the gardens of his homes inClifton and the Cotswolds. Mr Hack,60, said: “People who have beensuccessful should put somethingback into the community and I amdelighted to do that for the citywhere I have lived for 33 years.”

Mr Hack bought Bristol Bulldogand The Gromalo for £26,000 each.The Gromalo, based on TheGruffalo, will go in the garden of hisfamily’s home in the Cotswolds. AndBristol Bulldog will go in the gardenof his home in Clifton. He saidGruffalo stories are favourites of histwo sons, Freddie, 8, and Tom, 5.

BUSINESSMAN Tony Barrett-Jonesdecided to buy the Gromit whichstood outside his home on the Har-bourside during the summer.Mr Barrett-Jones could see Grom-

berry, which was sitedoutside The PumpHouse pub near theCumberland Basin.He said: “We could see

him each day and hebecame quite a friend tous.“We got the feeling

that some of the Gro-mits would be going allover the world and wethought it would be a

good idea to try to keep one in thecity.”Mr Barrett-Jones runs a food mi-

crobiology firm in Avonmouth andwill be taking his Gromit, which he

bought for £32,000, todisplay at food shows.He said: “It would be

nice to put him on thebalcony at home but Ithink that might attracttoo much attention. Themain thing is to keepgood care of him.”Mr Barrett-Jones’

son, Troy, 13, said: “Ithink it is awesome thatwe bought him.”

Strawberry Gromit tobe a Bristolian for ever

EVERY GROMIT TELLS A STORY...

Charles Hack

In these times of economicrestraint, people who havebeen successful should putsomething backinto the community

“

● HAVING bid successfully forCarosello, Rebecca Carter nowhas plans to create a kennel forhim so that he can have acomfortable home outdoors.She bid for the sculpture online

with her husband Steve and wasnot 100 per cent sure that she hadbeen successful. But on Mondaythe couple picked up thedecorated dog and brought it backto their Whitchurch home.Mrs Carter, 43, the creator of

website it’s a social, said she willprobably use the Gromit for eventsthe networking site is involvedwith. She is already planning onhim making an appearance at aHalloween party.Mrs Carter said: “We did not

expect to win and were reallyshocked.

“We would have been happywith whatever we got but he issuch a special dog after everythingthat has happened to him.“It was really amazing and

exciting. We got a bit of a bargainand are really, really chuffed.”Mrs Carter has already been in

touch with the Gromit’s Italianartist Giuliano Carapia, who hassaid he will send over some of hisoriginal drawings.Mrs Carter said: “We are going

to build a kennel with a roof andprobably put some collectionboxes with Carosello.”

Comfy kennelpoised to home‘special dog’

● Stephenand RebeccaCarter withtheir GromitCarosello

● ONE of the proud new owners ofa Gromit statue is the Needhamfamily from north Bristol. Theyvisited every Gromit – includingthose at Paddington station and inCheddar – and each member ofthe family gave each dog a scoreof between nought and three. Theydecided to bid for the Gromit withthe highest score – Canis Major,which they bought for £26,000.Dad Col Needham, 46, founder

and chief executive of IMDb(CRRT), a film and televisionwebsite, said: “Canis Major cameout with a score of 11 out of 12 sothat was near perfect.“We are so delighted to be

helping such a fantastic cause andsomething which has beenwonderful for the city.”Mr Needham, his wife, Karen,

and twins, Beth and Kate, 20, havedecided to give their Gromit itsown special room in their home.

Beth, a student studying historyat Manchester MetropolitanUniversity, said: “We have lovedseeing the children’s and adults’faces as they visited each Gromit.There was a really specialatmosphere at each one.”

● A KINGSWOOD used-cardealership has a new, colourfulcompanion after the salesmanager’s daughter picked a Gromitfor the firm to bid on.Nick Simms’ daughter Madison, 9,

suggested that owner Colin Ludwellbid for Patch. Mr Ludwell wassuccessful, paying£36,000 for thedog decoratedby EmilyGolden. MrLudwell, whosedealership goesby his name, hashad experience ofthe children’s hospitalafter his son spenttime being treatedthere last year.

Ullo garage, gota new Gromit?

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Grandad’s £50k thank-you to hospital● Right, Fred Grainger who bought Steam Dog. Main picture, Graham and Ruth Wadsworth with son Luke

● SUGAR Plum will be ondisplay to thousands ofcommuters who travel intoBristol on the A4 Bath Road.It was bought by BruceGriffin, founder andmanaging director ofRockpoolDigital, awebsitedesignfirm.Mr

Griffin saidthat theGromitsculpturewill be onshow inthe glass-fronted studio atThe Paintworks so it can beseen by people as they pass.He said: “We are really

excited to have beensuccessful with our bid.“We exceeded our budget

but it needed to be donebecause we really wanted toget one and help such afantastic cause.”Mr Griffin, 31, lives in

Alveston near Bristol with hiswife, Cat, and two children,Quin, 3, and Caleb, 2. MrGriffin said that bothyoungsters had spent time inthe children’s hospital so hehas first-hand knowledge ofthe work carried out there.

Commuterswill get to seeSugar Plum

● CHRISTINE Baxter boughta Gromit with funds whichwere raised by herself andcolleagues at Lloyds Bank inBristol.The staff

decided inJuly to holda widerange offundraisingevents tocollectenoughmoney tobid for oneof thestatutes.Christine made a successful

bid of £18,000 for Why DogWhy? – just under the totalamount raised of £19,500.She said: “If we had gone

over budget, we would havehad to organise some morefundraising events.”Among the events they held

were a half-Gromathon, and aTour-de-Grom wherevolunteers cycled to 79 dogs– a distance of 91 miles – inone day.Christine said: “Gromit

Unleashed captured ourimagination because it is alocal appeal and it is for thechildren’s hospital.”The Gromit will go on show

at the Lloyds headquarters inthe amphitheatre.

Tour-de-Gromhelps financesuccessful bid

BUSINESSMAN Fred Grainger boughta Gromit as a thank-you to the chil-dren’s hospital whose staff saved hisgrandson’s life.Little Luke Wadsworth, now 10

months old, needed open-heart surgeryduring his first week of life.Mr Grainger said: “If it was not for

what they did at the hospital, Lukewould not be with us today.“To see all the work in operation at

that hospital and how they go about it isreally mind-blowing. When we sit littleLuke on that Gromit, it is going to be areally special family moment.”Mr Grainger runs a family business

called educationumbrella.com whichsells books and other educational sup-plies to schools and colleges.It is based in Bristol and Exeter

House next to Temple Meads railwaystation – so Mr Grainger thought it

would be particularly apt to buy SteamDog, which he purchased for £50,000,because of its connection with rail-ways.Luke’s father, Graham Wadsworth,

paid his own special thank-you to thehospital by cycling from Paddington toBristol and running to every Gromit inBristol.His efforts raised £10,000 for Wallace

and Gromit’s Grand Appeal.

● Zachary Adams with his dad Richard and Gromit ‘Butterfly’ in his kitchen Picture: Dave Betts BRDB20131008C-001_C

● NOT many people can say theyhave a Gromit in their kitchen - butthat is where the Adams family arekeeping theirs.The Warmley family bought

Butterfly – designed by milliner tothe stars and royalty Philip Treacy –for £20,000 at the auction.Zachary Adams, 18 went along to

the sale with his father Richard andthe pair surprised the rest of thefamily by announcing they hadpurchased the sky-blue sculpturecovered in colourful butterflies.And Gromit has taken up home on

the kitchen island, until they decidewhat else to do with him.Zachary, who works in

advertising, said: “It has a beautifuldesign and the artist is well known.“Once we had got him home from

the secret location we popped himon the island in the kitchen and he isstill there.“We aim for him to make

appearances around Bristol forspecial occasions.”Zachary was a fan of the Gromit

Unleashed trail – and he felt that theauction was a great way to finishthings off.

Meet the familywith a Gromitin their kitchen

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ITWAS the hottest ticket in town.And I was there, just three rowsfrom celebrity auctioneer TimWonnacott and surrounded by awell-heeled, expectant audience

poised to bid for Gromit statues.But all I could think about was

Esmee.Esmee is my niece. She’ll be nine

on her next birthday.At first glance, Esmee seems quite

normal. Her long eyelashes framebeautiful, pale green eyes on herround, pretty face.But Esme’s not normal. And, if you

saw her, you would sense it. She’s toostill. Looking again, you’d notice thather eyes were open but flickering andstrangely unfocussed.In fact, the terrible truth about my

niece Esmee Linehan-Brown is that,throughout her nine difficult years,this lovely little girl has been com-pletely immobile.Forget standing or sitting up,

Esmee has never even co-ordinated asingle movement, never spoken,

The hospital has never been able todiagnose what afflicts her. It’s prob-ably a complex combination of neuroand chemical imbalances, beyond thecomprehension of even themostmod-ern of medical expertise. But the pa-tient, caring and kind treatment shehas always received at the hospitalinspired me to agree to become atrustee of the Grand Appeal.And that’s how – before the event

started – I found myself in a nervoushuddle with fellow trustees Charles

Griffiths andSimonCooper, daring tospeculate on how much the eveningmight raise.We were joined by appeal director

NicolaMasters and Iwas taken abackat how nervous she was, too, clearlyfeeling the weight of responsibilityfor Gromit Unleashed to deliver asignificant sum.But none of us had any idea of how

much the 92 lots were going to go for.So the sale of the first Gromit –

Patch – was nothing short of emo-

tional. I had expected a tentativestart, with bidders finding their feeton the first few statues.How wrong I was.£10,000, £15,000, £25,000, £30,000 ...

Tim Wonnacott could barely keep upwith the bids as they bounced aroundthe room at breakneck speed.His small wooden gavel, incongru-

ous alongside the state-of-the-arttechnology that seamlessly integ-rated local and worldwide bidding,came down on a final bid of £36,000.

It had taken less than two minutes.And, in that short time, we all real-ised that this was going to be anunforgettable night.And I realised, too, that I had a

lump in my throat.I think it was partly relief, partly

the sense thatBristolwasnot going tolet us down, and partly because Iknew the money would go straight tochildren like Esmee.The auctionpassed somemind-bog-

gling milestones.

‘ON BEHALF OF BEAUTIFUL, FRAGILEBristol Posteditor MikeNorton wasat the Gromitauction. Here,he explains why.

never shown any sign of understand-ing. She has never even smiled.Shemaybe able to see andhear. She

may be able to understand.Or she may not.Esmee is utterly helpless. But if

that wasn’t enough, her real curse isepilepsy. Despite medication, Esmeehas fits all the time. Sometimes herfits last for a minute but they can lastfor days. And when she fits, Esmee’seyes often seem to show a confusedand inconsolable fear.In short, Esmee is one of the most

disabled children that Bristol Chil-dren’s Hospital has treated.And her patient, loving parents

Tim and Lorraine have spent many avigil alongside their afflicted daugh-ter in a children’s hospital bed.That’s why I thought about Esmee.

Because she is the reason I was at theauction.

● Eight-year-old Esme has beentreated by Bristol Children’s Hospital

● Gromit Lightyear looks over proceedings at the grand auction

● Guests queue to enter the marquee at Cribbs Causeway ● Colin Knowles, Sarah Hitchings, Sir Gromit artist Ian Marlow, Chris Milner

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Nick Park’s Gromit hit £50,000. Icould see him from where I was sat.This is a man who has attended theAcademy Awards, and left themclutching Oscars. But the excitementand happiness on his face was clear.He looked back at the audience

from his front-row seat with a smileas wide as Wallace’s and stood up toapplaud the bidder who bought hisstatue.Then we hit the million-pound

mark.Then thePixarGromit reached

£65,000. Then we hit the two mil-lion-pound mark.As the bids got hotter, so did the

marquee. Every time I fanned myface with a catalogue, my wife Yvettegrabbedmyhand and toldme off. “Hemight think you’re bidding,” shechided.Other wives showedmuch less reti-

cence. Two rows from me, it was thefemale member of a couple who keptreaching to take the bidding paddleand raise it.

Across the aisle, a team of threewomen – what looked like three gen-erations – celebrated as they man-aged to secure a statue.In front of them, another woman

was barking impatiently in to a mo-bile phone as she took instructions onhow much she could bid.As well as the competition in the

room, we also had the curious ex-perience of being at one remove fromthe hundreds of faceless bidders com-peting online. Therewere timeswhen

the 500 people in the marquee werereduced to mere spectators, listeningto Tim Wonnacott’s commentary onthe frantic online bidding.And then someone in the room

would bid, and we’d all cheer – grate-ful for the marquee to be involvedfirst-hand again.Of course, the biggest cheers came

at the end as we all tried to absorb therealisation that bidders had justspent more than £2.3m on 92 lumps offibreglass.

Amid the excitement, I thoughtagain about Esmee, so cruelly de-tached from the world that she willnever be able to understand whatGromit Unleashed has achieved.She will never be able to thank

Aardman, or the artists, or the spon-sors, or the volunteers or the gen-erous bidders whomade this historicauction so hugely successful.So I will do it for her. On behalf of

my beautiful, fragile niece Esmee,thank you all.

ESMEE, THANK YOU ALL...’

● Auctioneer Tim Wonnacott took expert control of proceedings as guests gleefully entered a bidding war, raising more than £2 million in the process

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The Gromit Auction

FOR one woman, the auctionwas the emotional culmina-tion of two years of work. Nic-ola Masters, director ofWallace and Gromit’s Grand

Appeal, said: “It was a really emo-tional night. From the first two goingfor over £30,000 – more tissues thansecurity were handed out by the se-curity guards after those two.“Wewere so blown awaywith those

first few. From then on we thought‘Where is this going?’. We were tot-ting up amounts, working out av-erages and thinking ‘This is going tosurpass our expectations’. When werealised by about halfway that wewere going to reach the million markI think thewhole teamjust collapsed be-cause it had sur-passed ourexpectations.“This has

been twoyears in theplanning.These Gro-mits have beenour babies for along time. To makethis is overwhelming.“What an amazing total. I think a

little bit of history was made in Bris-tol tonight – it was extraordinary,£2,357,000 is unbelievable. We arestaggered.”Nicola was more than aware of

what a gift the charity’s partnershipwith Aardman is.She said: “How lucky are we to

work with Aardman. I will be raisinga glass to someone behind the scenesat Aardman – Angie Last. She hasbeen absolutely intrinsic to thewholeproject from day one. We could nothavedone itwithout her. Shewaspartof the original idea. She has been anabsolute superstar, and a quiet andhumble modest superstar.”With all the money going to buy

ground-breaking equipment – includ-ing the second paediatric intraop-erative MRI scanner in the country –and to enhanceBristolRoyalHospitalfor Children, Nicola said she isthrilled the auction had gone so fartowards the charity’s £3.5 million tar-get. She said: “Everything we do is tomake the hospital a better place forsick kids. To be able to contribute thissort of figure to fund fantastic newequipment to support children inhospital is overwhelming.”

Nicola Masters

To be able tocontribute this sort offigure to fund fantasticnew equipment tosupport children inhospital is justoverwhelming

“

‘I THINK A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORYWAS MADE IN BRISTOL TONIGHT...’As the bids rolled in, theteam behind GromitUnleashed could notbelieve their eyes as theprice of sculptures keptrising. Vicki Mathias spoke toan emotional Nicola Masters,director of Wallace andGromit’s Grand Appeal, afterthe auction.

● Above, Nicola Masters is embraced by Gromit’s creator Nick Park on Thursday evening. Below, auctioneer Tim Wonnacott in action at the event

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The Gromit Auction

WALLACE and Gromitsuperfan Andrew Mayhas now got his handson the biggest item ofhis collection. He has

been collecting pieces featuring theclay creations for 20 years andalready had a treasure trove of morethan 6,500 items.But after the launch of Gromit Un-

leashed Mr May set his heart on agiant Gromit to add to the haul.And he was thrilled to be the suc-

cessful bidder who got his hands onNick Park’s Newshound sculpture –the only one to featureWallace aswellas his trusty sidekick.MrMaysaid: “I havebeenaWallace

and Gromit collector for 20 years andit felt like it has all been building tothis. I have got more than 6,500 itemsfrom all around the world, from assmall as cereal toys to watercoloursby Nick himself.”Mr May said he had set himself a

limit for the auction and did notbelieve he would even get a look inwhen it came to Mr Park’s sculpture.Mr May made the trip to Bristol

‘AFTER 20 YEARS IT FELT LIKE IHAD BEEN BUILDING UP TO THIS...’

● Andrew May, newowner of Newshound,with Nick Park

The Gromit Unleashedauction night was a dreamcome true for one Gromitsuperfan. Vicki Mathias spoketo the man whose personalcollection tops 6,500 pieces. especially for Thursday’s auction,

wearing a Gromit pin badge for theoccasion.He said: “I never thought Iwould be

able to afford this one, but it was atthe top of my list. It was emotionallycharged. I was absolutely delightedand I think Nick was too because hegave me a hug when I met him on theway out to pay. He came around to theback to congratulate me.”Gromit’s creator met Mr May at

one of the Greatest Dog Show onEarth exhibition previews and isaware of his cracking collection.Mr May said: “There are many

Gromits I would have been delightedto have, includingNewfoundland andJoanna Lumley’s Poetry In Motion.But I have lost a bedroom and gaineda newsroom.”Mr May said it is the Aardman

characters’ British charm that heparticularly likes.He said: “Wallace and Gromit ex-

hibit everything that is charmingabout Britain, and their allegiancewith the children’s charity makes iteven more special. I went out on theGromit trail and the auction was myfourth visit to Bristol this year, es-pecially for this and to meet thehard-working people at Wallace andGromit’s Grand Appeal.”

Andrew May

Wallace and Gromit exhibit everythingthat is charming about Britain and theirallegiance with the children’s charitymakes it even more special

“

THE man behind Morph,Chicken Run andThe Pirates!is a patron and trustee ofWallace and Gromit’s GrandAppeal – and he took part in

Gromit Unleashed by decorating asculpture for the trail.His pirate-inspired Salty Sea Dog

sold to an online bidder duringThursday’s auction, fetching £32,000for the children’s hospital charity.Mr Lord was bowled over by the

buzz of Gromit Unleashed, which

I’d go and makesure people weretreating him wellAardman co-founder Peter Lord tells Vicki Mathias thatseeing his Gromit sculpture sold to a new owner was notdissimilar to watching a child grow up and leave home.

● Peter Lord with Salty Sea Dog, and making a speech at the GromitUnleashed auction

used fellow patron Nick Park’s char-acter as a blank canvas for a host ofartists.Mr Lord said: “I did not anticipate

howmuchexcitement therewouldbe.I did not realise what a buzz therewould be in the room when theystarted to sell these things. It wasamazing. It was slightly shocking.”He said he had paid visits to his

Gromit, which was located near theCascade Steps in the city centre forthe summer, just to make sure he was

being looked after. Mr Lord said: “Ispent so long working with him, liv-ing with him, and caring about himon the streets.“I was very worried about him and

would go round making sure peoplewere treating him well. It is like he

has suddenly grown up and left homeand is not mine any more. But I amsure he has gone to a good home.“It went beyond all our expecta-

tions. Itwas fun to see all the pleasureit gave people, to walk around Bristoland see people busy and chatting –

parents dragging their kids and kidsdragging parents to go and see them.Everyone – all generations – was in-terested to be out on the streets, andwitnessing that was a huge pleasure.I met some of the artists who were alllovely people. It seems that this wasthe most generous project.”Althoughhe admitted that the tech-

nical specification of the kit themoney would be funding is not hisarea of expertise, he was impressedby the impact it will have for thehospital.Mr Lord said: “It is absolutely fant-

astic. That is what we have beendoing for nearly 20 years – raisingmoney for charity. It is terribly grat-ifying. I do not know what it willmean exactly but I think it is reallygoing to make a difference.”Fellow Aardman founder and

Grand Appeal patron David Sproxtonalso put his mark on a Gromit sculp-ture for the project – albeit on asmaller scale. He decorated one of thesmaller Gromits, which were soldafter the 5ft statues at Thursday’sauction.His Gromit – Franz – was inspired

by the study of phrenology, whichfocuses on measurements of thebrain. It sold for £12,000 to an onlinebidder.

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The Gromit Auction

THE character he created atcollege had already become aglobal brand – but themodestanimator still could not ima-gine that artists would be

willing to use Gromit as a canvas,that giant sculptures of the poochwould take Bristol by storm over thesummer or that they would not onlypass the £1 million mark but the£2 million mark when they wentunder the hammer.As with his colleagues at Wallace

and Gromit’s Grand Appeal, charitypatron Nick Park did not dare toimagine how much the decorateddogs would sell for. And sitting in theauction room last Thursday he couldnot believewhat hewaswitnessing asthe figures climbed.He said: “I do not know what I was

thinking. I was too afraid to guesswhat the Gromits might get, whatamounts they might raise.“And to see the first one starting to

climb to £36,000 – I started to get atingling ... right up the back of myneck. And I thought ‘What have wegot here? What is this going to be bythe end of the evening?’.“I was gobsmacked by how high

people were prepared to climb. A lotof people came with such a generousspirit. It is definitely the children’shospital, that is the main reason.Gromit is the canvas.”And that has been the reaction of

the Grand Appeal patron throughoutthe popular project. Despite the suc-cess of his character Gromit,Mr Parkbelieves it is the fondness people havefor Bristol Royal Hospital for Chil-dren that has led to people gettingswept up in Gromit Unleashed fever.He said: “It is such a privilege to be

involved in such a fantastic cause inBristol for such a state-of-the-art chil-dren’s hospital, something that is so

‘I STARTED TO GET A TINGLING ...RIGHT UP THE BACK OF MY NECK’For Nick Park, the successof Gromit Unleashed hasbeen a surprise almostfrom the very start.Vicki Mathias reports.

valuable to Bristol. Seeing my dog upthere doing his thing, I could notbelieve it. He is doing well. I feel veryproud of him. It has been phenom-enal. I was amazed that there wassuch a lot of excitement – and I havenot even made a film.”Mr Park said that despite the long

association with the Grand Appeal,Wallace’s sidekick seems to have be-come more of a figurehead for thecharity through Gromit Unleashed.Oscar-winning Mr Park said: “Gro-

mit has been involved for 18 years but

the fact it has come to this is lovely.Throughout the summer the feelingof warmth towards Gromit has beenwonderful – and that is because ofwhat it is for.“The way all these different artists

responded without any question –they said yes at the drop of a hat.Harry Hill, Joanna Lumley, GeraldScarfe – the list goes on. Somehad putin such a lot of time and effort.“It is so unreal to me. It shows me

how much people know Gromit andhow much he has become a house-

hold name. To see kids coming up tohim and saying ‘Gromit!’ was verygratifying.”Mr Park also got caught up in the

atmosphere of the auction room andbid on a few of the Gromit sculptures,although was overtaken by the reallyserious bidders on several occa-sions.He said: “I bid on a couple but they

shot up higher than I was preparedfor. Quite often they were up at£16,000/£20,000 in the blink of an eyeand then kept climbing.

“I wanted to bid on the SimonTofield Gromit and Quentin Blake’sbut they just shot up so high soquickly, I got left behind really.”Mr Park walked away from the

auction with one memento of GromitUnleashed.He said: “I did buy one, but one of

the mini Gromits – one of the prize-winning ones (Lytham St Annes Gro-mit).“I seized on it because I am from

that area. Iwill probably donate it to aschool up there.”

● Nick Park with some of the smaller Gromits which were auctioned last Thursday

Gromit, meet Gorilla, says uni● ONE of the Gromits was bought by theUniversity of Bristol and will be on show tostaff, students and visitors.Professor David Clarke, deputy vice

chancellor, made a successful £20,000 bid forBark At Ee. He said the location had yet to bedecided but the Gromit could be in one of theuniversity’s libraries or in the foyer of the newstudents’ union.He said: “We have a commitment to public

art in the city and buying a Gromit was part ofthat commitment.”In 2011, Professor Clarke bid successfully

for a gorilla which takes pride of place in theuniversity’s arts and social-sciences library.

● THERE was a particularly loud round ofapplause when the hammer went down on thelast Gromit of the night – a smaller sculpturedecorated by patients at Bristol Royal Hospitalfor Children. The winning bid of £21,000 – morethan some of the bigger Gromits fetched on thenight – was made by Wessex Garages.Steve Patch, director of Wessex Garages on

Pennywell Road and Feeder Road, said the aimis to put the pooch on display in the company’sshowroom planned for Cribbs Causeway for2015 after touring the firm’s other branches.He said: “We are thrilled that we have our

own Gromit. The hospital is a worthy cause andwe are delighted we could help them.”

Little dog’s large price

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The Gromit Auction

Thanks so muchfor our crackingGromit arts trail

● Tracey Phillips, Bryony Strachan and William Booth with the card

GROMIT Unleashed was not thefirst arts trail of its kind – but it hasbrought in more money than anyother before.Wild In Art, which worked in

partnership with Wallace and Gro-mit’s Grand Appeal and Aardmanon the project, has been involved inarts trails in cities and towns acrossthe country since 2007.But Wild In Art director Charlie

Langhorne said that Gromit Un-leashed has smashed the highesttotals raised through previous auc-tions.He said: “It is absolutely ex-

traordinary.“This is the highest amount a

trail has raised and the highestamount a sculpture has raised.”On the same night that the Gro-

mit Unleashed auction raised some

£2.3 million for Bristol Royal Hos-pital for Children’s charity theGrand Appeal, an auction of 53 gor-illas in Norwich raised £272,300 forNorfolk charities.It follows Bristol Zoo’s successful

Wow! Gorillas project, which tookthe city by storm in 2011 and raised£427,000 towards conservation pro-jects.Mr Langhorne said: “We have

had the opportunity to work withmany events and in total theamount raised reflects not only theenduring power of Gromit but alsothe enormous amount of work doneby Nicola, Lauren and Sarah at theGrand Appeal.“What it boils down to is it makes

someone smile. On the back of thatsmile, you have got the economicbenefits to the charity.”

‘Smile factor’ helped ensureGromit auction raised £2.3m

● Charlie Langhorne, director of Wild In Art, delivering one of the plainGromit figures back in February

A GROMIT sculpture is set to go ontour after it was sold to one of thecity’s universities.University of theWest of England

Bristol bought Sheepdog – whichwas designed by Richard Starzak,director of Shaun The Sheep – andnow there are plans for the 5ft sculp-ture to visit all ofthe UWE cam-puses.The university

had hoped to pur-chase Paisley,which was de-signed by one of itsstudents, NiaSamuel Johnson,but failed to winthe bidding for it.But it made a suc-cessful bid of£23,000 for Sheep-dog.UWE vice chan-

cellor Professor Steve West said:“We have close relationships withAardman and with Bristol RoyalHospital for Children and we tookthe view that it would be good tocement these relationships by help-ing to keep a Gromit in Bristol.“Aardman have been one of the

longest-standing industrial and cul-

tural partners of UWEBristol, withmany of our staff, students andalumni working on theiraward-winning features and com-mercials.“We will tour the UWE Gromit

around all of the UWE campuses,most probably hewill be sited in the

campus libraries,but this is yet to bedetermined. Hewill ultimately behoused at a yet-to-be-agreed locationon the Frenchaycampus.“We think Gro-

mit will appeal tointernational stu-dents and the phe-nomenon of GromitUnleashed is a leg-acy that we are ex-tremely proud toshow a strong con-

nection with.”Keith Hicks, UWE’s director of

communications, was at the auc-tion. He said: “We were seeking tobuy Paisley but bids went sky highand we had to up our originalbudget. It was nail-biting until thelast moment as we were lucky towin the 79th out of 81 bids.”

Sheepdog set to ‘come-bye’all of university’s campuses

Health [email protected]

STAFF at Bristol Royal Hos-pital for Children were sothrilled with the impact ofGromit Unleashed that theyturned up to the charity auc-

tion with a thank-you card for theteam behind the project.The card – featuring Gromit, the

handprints of patients, and lots ofglitter – was made by youngsters inthe hospital’s play centre. It in-cluded messages to Wallace andGromit’s Grand Appeal from pa-tients and staff.The hospital will benefit from

more than £2 million raisedthrough the auction,whichwill payfor state-of-the art-equipment.Hospital clinical chairman Bry-

ony Strachan said: “It has beenabsolutely fantastic and there hasbeen a real buzz about Gromit Un-

leashed. When you have peoplefrom Pixar and Toy Story sayingthis is the best children’s hospitalin the world it is really great.“We are bringing in fantastic ser-

vices from north Bristol to makeone of the best children’s hospitalsin Europe – and why not the world?There has been a real buzz in thecity and thishas takenona life of itsown.”Dr Strachan said she wanted to

present the team behind GromitUnleashed with a card to thankeveryone involved for the wonder-ful summer they brought to the cityand the difference the money willmake to young patients.She said: “We went around with

the card asking what the Gromitshad meant to everyone.“As my niece said, they are great

because you see one and it makesyou smile.“They have been fabulous and a

lot of staff have caught the Gromitbug. There has been such a greatfeeling.”

● INSPIRED by an old-fashionedsuitcase, Grom Voyage – the secret81st sculpture – seemed the perfectaddition to an Easter Comptontravel firm.C the World director Carolyn Park

made a successful bid of £20,000for the travel-themedVisitEnglandGromit with alittle help fromher friendAdrian Kidd.She arrived

at the auctionwith the hopeof walkingaway witheither GromVoyage or Newfoundland as she feltthey were both fitting for her travelfirm.Miss Park said: “We are hoping he

is going to live in the office –although we have got to work outhow we are going to get himthrough the door first. He is going todominate the office – it is not thelargest of spaces.“My Jack Russell Lulu is going to

have competition for top dog now.“I hope a few people will come

down and meet him. He was only onshow at the exhibition so a lot ofpeople will not have seen him.“The auction was amazing. The

atmosphere was fantastic – verytense. I could not believe the pricethe first couple of lots went for.“The amount of money raised was

phenomenal.”

It’s no secretwhere 81st dogis now homed

● GARDEN designer DiarmuidGavin’s Oops A Daisy, which spentthe summer at Tyntesfield, is set toremain in Bristol. The 5ft Gromitcovered in artificial grass anddaisies was purchased by MiddletonMobility and will go on display intheir Bishopsworth showroom.Middleton’s directors Ricky Towler

and Tom Powell attendedThursday’s auction and bought theGromit for £22,000.They said: “We felt that the Gromit

Unleashed trail was so popular andcreated such a positive feeling forthe people of Bristol over thesummer, and we wanted to makesure that one of the Gromits stayedin Bristol where he belongs. It is allfor such a fantastic cause.”

Grassy Gromitputs down roots

● Middleton Mobility bought OopsA Daisy for £22,000

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1. Patch by Emily Golden

£36,000

2. Grant’s Gromit by Rosie Ashforth

£36,000

3. Fish Tales by Jeremy Wade

£20,000

5. Gromitasaurus by Huncan Daskel l

£24,000

6. Zodiac by Inkie

£24,00010. The Snow Dog by Raymond Briggs

£32,000

9. Canis Major by Katy Christ ianson

£26,000

7. Lancelot by Sir Paul Smith

£22,00011. Hound Dog by Sir Peter Blake

£28,000

4. Five A Day Dog by Laura Cramer

£22,0008. Blossom by Emily Ketteringham

£24,00012. Col larful l by Hannah Cumming

£22,000

The Gromit Auction... ...and here’s what they all went for

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13. Why Dog, Why? by Mark Titchner

£18,000

14. Sugar Plum by Cel ia Birtwel l CBE

£22,00018. The Secret Garden by Sarah-Jane Grace

£44,000

17. Carosel lo by Giul iano Carapia

£16,000

15. Dog Rose by Ros Frankl in

£20,00019. Butterf ly by Phi l ip Treacy OBE

£20,000

16. Salty Sea Dog by Peter Lord CBE

£32,00020. Bark At Ee by Leigh Flurry

£20,000

21. Bumble Boogie by Jools Hol land OBE DL

£20,000

22. May Contain Nuts (& Bolts) by Natal ie Guy

£30,000

23. aMazing Gromit! by Tom Berry

£24,000

24. It ’s Kraken, Gromit! by Fi l thy Luker

£18,000

The Gromit Auction... ...and here’s what they all went for


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The Gromit Auction

25. Lodekka by Ignit ion DG

£28,000

26. Roger by Richard Wil l iams

£29,000

27. Astro by Ignit ion DG

£21,000

29. Doodles by Simon Tofield

£34,000

30. Malago by Dan Coll ings

£24,00034. The King by Stephen McKay

£25,000

33. Sir Gromit of Bristol by Ian Marlow

£28,000

31. Creature Comforts by Sneaky Raccoon

£19,00035. Gromberry by Simon Tozer

£32,000

28. Gromit-O-Matic by Donough O’Mal ley

£26,000 32. Bushed by David Inshaw

£24,00036. Ship Shape & Bristol Fashion by Sarah Matthews

£26,000

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The Gromit Auction

37. Jack by Martin Band

£36,000

38. Poochadel ic by Lisa Hassel l

£25,000

39. Bristol Bul ldog by Dan Shearn

£26,000

41. A Mandri l l ’s Best Friend by Vivi Cuevas

£18,000

42. Hero Tom Deams

£26,000

46. Harmony by Marie Simpson

£23,000

45. Watch Out, Gromit! by Gerald Scarfe CBE

£50,000

43. Grosmos by Cheba

£28,00047. Pais ley by Nia Samuel- Johnson

£21,000

40. The Green Gromit by Zayn Mal ik

£26,00044. Stat ’s The Way by Gavin Strange

£29,00048. Vincent van Gromit by Laura Cramer

£25,000

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The Gromit Auction

49. Antique Rose by Cath Kidston MBE

£30,000

50. Steam Dog by Dan Shearn

£26,000

51. Blazing Saddles by Carys Tait

£21,000

53. Oops A Daisy by Diarmuid Gavin

£22,000

54. Golden Gromit by Jul ie Vernon

£30,00058. NewFoundLand by One Red Shoe

£30,000

57. Nezahualcoyotl by Joseph Dunmore

£20,000

55. Newshound by Nick Park CBE

£50,000

59. Gromit by Jane Kite

£35,000

52. Bunty by Paula Bowles

£31,00056. The Wild West by Amy Timms

£22,00060. Feathers by Dave Bain

£25,000


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The Gromit Auction

61. Where’s Wal lace? by Martin Handford

£30,000

62. Isambark Kingdog Brunel by Tim Miness

£36,000

63. Groscar by Chris Taylor

£28,000

65. Gromit Lightyear by Pixar

£65,000

66. Fiesta by Lindsay McBirnie

£28,00070. Eldoradog by Seb Burnett

£28,000

69. National Treasure by the Royal Mint

£28,000

67. Grrrrromit by Carys Tait

£26,00071. Grom Voyage! by Vivi Cuevas

£20,000

64. Being Gromit Malkovich Thomas Dowdeswel l

£21,00068. The Gromalo by Axel Schef f ler

£26,00072. Two Eds Better Than One by Peter Brookes

£23,000

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The Gromit Auction

73. Hul labal loon by Monster Riot

£26,000

74. Gnashional Gromit by The Beano

£28,000

75. TutanGromit I by Dale Evans

£24,000

77. A Close Shave by Harry Hil l

£24,000

78. Gizmo by Sir Quentin Blake

£32,00082. Franz by David Sproxton CBE

£12,000

81. A Grand Day Out by Andy O’Rourke

£24,000

79. Sheepdog by Richard Starzak

£23,00083. Bromit by Beto Cuevas

£14,000

76. Poetry In Motion by Joanna Lumley OBE

£35,00080. What A Wind Up! by Trevor Bayl is OBE

£25,00084. Bristol Gromit by Tom Sheedy

£19,000


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The Gromit Auction

85. Countryside Gromit by Peter Plested

£12,000

86. London Gromit by Samuel Hayward

£14,000

87. York Gromit by Jenni fer Owen

£15,000

88. Seaside Gromit by Rob Gil let

£17,000

92. Bristol Chi ldren’s Hospita l Gromit by pat ients of Bristol Chi ldren’s Hospita l

£21,000

91. Blackpool Gromit by Lesley Archer

£13,000

90. Lytham St Annes Gromit by Joanne Edwards

£15,000

89. North East Gromit by Nicola Maybury

£14,000

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Documents

The Great Gromit Auction Bristol Post 09 October 2013