Giant Woodsman Gets a Name

The friendly giant who welcomes visitors to Holt Country Park now has a name: he is called "Thol", a mythical-sounding moniker that is an anagram of "Holt".

The name was proposed by Mrs Terry Serne from Briston, in a competition run by North Norfolk District Council (which owns and manages the park) after the sculpture was unveiled last year. Mrs Serne won a birdfeeding kit and a book about how to encourage garden wildlife.

The judges, who included the giant's creator, sculptor Mike Thody, thought the noble and Scandinavian-sounding name suited the giant, who stands by the car park at Holt Country Park and points visitors to different areas and facilities.

Rob Goodliffe, the Site Management Ranger at Holt Country Park, said: "We had a lot of weird and wonderful entries, and some real imagination went into it. So it was hard to choose a winner. But 'Thol' was different - it was well thought-out, and it's a talking point that we can use in activities with children who visit the park."

• The area round Thol is currently being planted with native wildflowers by visitors from Holt Day Services, a centre which supports people with special needs. The garden will also have log piles, bird boxes and feeding stations, and will be protected by a low willow fence, when the project finishes in the spring of this year.

ENDS