Family

More Ted

5 Comments

My mum came round today to visit and dropped of a file of clippings and photos of my Grandad Ted and some of his sculptures.

ted1
A piece called Embryo, now at Edge Hill College Ormskirk. Taken in his back yard in deepest darkest Cheshire:)
ted2
Not sure if this ended up in Castlefield Roman Fort, as one of three “Sheep of Peace” just opposite Manchester Science Museum, or if it was a standalone piece. Photo from an exhibition in Holland, so I reckon he was pro-Euro (he certainly had a Dutch Art Agent).
ted3
Mum doesn’t like this, me its growing on me slowly 🙂
ted4
One of his pigs 🙂
ted5
I had one of those “Omg I have a vaguely famous person in my family” moments when I looked at this closely and realised this was his obituary in The Guardian Wednesday October 16 1991(three days after he died).
ted6
Zoomed in version of the Guardian obituary, if anyone knows if the Dead Rhino piece exists and is available to view please let me know.

5 thoughts on “More Ted”

  1. What is your first name?
    I ask because I may have something Ted gave to my son rather more years ago than I care to remember that was meant for you.
    I have kept it all these years wondering if I would ever find you, (don’t get too excited!!)
    I also have a pig Ted made especially for me, two rhino sculptures and some lovely photos of him with the big wooden Rhino he worked on at our workshop in Cheshire. He was a lovely man, fondly remembered and used to talk about you all the time!

    Reply

    1. Hi Debra

      My first name as given by my mother is “Paul”. Apart from official/banking business and dealing with my mum I made the conscious choice to go by my pseudonym Newt when I was 19.

      Apologies for taking ages to reply to this, this blog is rather abandoned at the moment and I only just noticed it.

      As for Rhinos, I was on the monorail at Chester Zoo about 12 years ago (it was before my first born whose 11 now) and there was an audio track going on that was rather crackly and low volume. As we went over the White Rhino enclosure, it said that he’d donated money to its building and had a sculpture there. We asked at the gift shop and no one had any clue. Do you know anything about this? I know he had a big thing about Chester Zoo, I used to go with him every other time I visited or so it seemed.

      Reply

  2. I am currently reading Happy Days – a memoir of Ted Roocroft by his friend and former student Keith Hamlett. It is a lovely read and shows one man’s wonderful influence on another.
    I know Keith well and in knowing him and reading about his memories of Ted I can see the wonderful influences on his character and his own attitude s to sculpture.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *