Huge plastic dinosaur grandfather bought for his autistic grandchildren turns Cwmbran garden into visitor attraction
Hundreds of people have flocked to a house in Wales after a man installed a 30ft-long dinosaur in his front garden.
Grandfather of 12 Jerry Adams paid £1,600 to put the Allosaurus in his garden after the National Showcaves Centre for Wales decided to auction the plastic dinosaur to raise money for charity.
Mr Adams, who lives in Cwmbran near Newport, said he bought the beast to entertain three of his grandchildren who have autism.
He said: “I saw it was for sale on the news and I thought that it would be a fantastic garden ornament.
“We just try to make the garden a nice place as we have a lot of passing traffic.”
The dinosaur stands at 15ft high and is between 8ft and 9ft wide.
Mr Adams said he had to adjust the position of the dinosaur, named Alan by his grandchildren, to allow the postman to access their front door.
Asked about the reaction from his neighbours, he said: “They know I’m eccentric, I’ve had a vintage tractor in the garden, but so far no one has complained about it.
“When it arrived, hundreds of cars parked up to come and take a look at it.”
The 58-year-old gardener, who has lived in Cwmbran for 45 years, drove on the M4 for more than an hour with the 30ft-long dinosaur attached to his van, to the “astonishment” of fellow motorists.
The Showcaves Centre attraction, called Dan-yr-Ogof, is a cave system in Wales with 250 dinosaur models on display.
The sale of the reptile, which was at the centre for 20 years, raised money for type 1 diabetes charity JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation).
Dan Owen, a manager at Dan-yr-Ogof, said: “We’ve ordered some new animatronic dinosaurs with sensors that move when someone walks past and we’re running out of room.
“We do a lot with JDRF and thought it would be a good idea to put the dinosaur on eBay.”
The centre chose to donate the money raised from the sale to JDRF, as the son and grandson of chairman Ashford Price both have type 1 diabetes.
Mr Owen said the park had received inquiries from “over a hundred people” asking if they would be putting any more of their dinosaurs up for sale.
Miranda Burdett, regional fundraiser for Wales at JDRF, who previously worked in the dinosaur souvenir shop at the centre, said: “I knew this was going to be a unique fundraiser.
“When I went to see the dinosaur, I realised just how big it is and I just knew it would raise a lot of awareness.
“It’s going to improve lives and it’s a really good fit for us working with the showcaves.”