The Dorking Cock Has Been Erected (on the A24)
by matt @ 12:45 pm. Blogged under Thinking
London has Big Ben, Paris has the Eiffel Tower and Rome the Colosseum; these easily recognisable symbols have done wonders for their host cities to build brand awareness over hundreds of years. Not to be outdone by these giants of tourism, Dorking Council has now added a monument for all who enter Dorking to gaze open mouthed at. Standing in the middle of the A24 roundabout this morning was a giant Cock (a Cockerel I mean - *thanks Alan*).
Quite what the world will make of this symbolic gesture, particularly in the US where the word ‘Dork’ is in itself already subject to ridicule, is anyone’s guess. I can hear them now in Kentucky “Have you heard about those dorks in ‘Ingaland’? They’ve erected a giant cock in their town!? Let’s hope this monument doesn’t become renowned for boosting fertility like the Cerne Abbas giant, otherwise coming to Dorking to ‘touch the Cock’ will cause havoc on the roads (most of which are closed right now).
The reason a Cockerel has been chosen to represent the inhabitants is surely obvious to all? …It’s because the most famous thing Dorking has produced is a special breed of Cockerel – with three legs or two heads or some other deformity (I forget the specifics). I think there are two left, reportedly living in sin with the Golden Goose.
There are other products of Dorking of course: Laurence Olivier was born near the town centre, and one of the Pilgrim fathers allegedly used to get pissed every Sunday night in the King’s Arms (there are blue wall plaques commemorating both of these). There was a famous snooker player who was also allegedly found drunk and wandering the streets singing the theme tune from Big Break, and finally there are the caves beneath South Street where smugglers are believed to have stashed their dodgy booze.
Perhaps with so many booze connections they should have just erected a giant pint glass? David Blaine could have come to the opening ceremony and stood inside it for a few weeks to raise the town’s profile. With so many pubs in Dorking (there’s allegedly one per member of the population) this probably would have been the best way to represent the town… at least until Sainsbury’s finally get their way and build their superstore on top of the Malt House.
UPDATE - July 2007: today I discovered many photographs on the Facebook group ‘the dorking cock appreciation society (DCAS)’ including this one to the right, allegedly of a chap named ‘Miles Shenton’ - presumably having had a few beers first before stripping and riding the cock bareback! I had no idea such an underground following had cropped up amongst the local youngsters, these people put my tame ideas to shame.
Technorati Tags: dorking, cockerel, pubs, alcohol, a24
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February 7th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Yes, we saw them erecting the cock early on Sunday morning.
Anyway, let’s not forget the literary connections to Dorking;
Robert Louis Stephenson lived at the Burford Bridge Hotel for several months in 1878,( as did Keats at some point).
Jane Austen probably visited Dorking and may well have stayed, her unfinished novel’The Watsons’ was set in Dorking. She also mentions a picnic on Box Hill in her book ‘Emma’
J M Barrie of ‘Peter Pan’ fame wrote an essay about novelist George Meredith on watching his funeral cortege en route to the Dorking cemetery. (Meredith himself lived at Flint Cottage on Box Hill as did Henry James).
Daniel Defoe, ( Robinson Crusoe), was educated at a boarding school in Dorking.
Charles Dickens stayed at The White Horse Inn. The Marquis of Granby Inn, in his novel ‘Pickwick Papers’, may have been based on The Old Kings Head in Dorking.
H. G. Wells stayed in Dorking when he wrote ‘War of The Worlds’. In fact the Martians in the opening of the book land on Horsell Common just outside Dorking!
Surely it would have been better to have a monument to all these illustrious writers rather than a giant cock whose only claim to fame is to have five claws instead of the usual four?
PS. And the modern day children’s author, Shirley Elmokadem, has been seen frequenting Dorking boot sales and high street shops.
February 7th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Quote Shirley: ‘Surely it would have been better to have a monument to all these illustrious writers rather than a giant cock whose only claim to fame is to have five claws instead of the usual four?’
What you mean like an ugly giant fountain that never gets switched on because of water restrictions like the one that commemorates the great poet/writer Shelley?? (Horsham West Sussex) I say keep the cock!
February 7th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
I dread to think what would happen if that campaign ran and Dorking was filled with residents wearing T-Shirts emblazened with ‘Keep the Cock’
February 8th, 2007 at 9:29 am
What’s wrong with the Shelley fountain in Horsham? I quite like this modern sculpture. It’s an apt symbol for a writer greatly admired for his revoltionary and visionary ideas.
Shelley was fascinated by water and by the modern sciences.
Like many of his contemporary authors and artists, he was captivated by the power of Nature and of Man. Angela Conner, the sculptor, drew her inspiration for the fountain, which she called “Rising Universe�, from Shelley’s famous allegorical poem “Mont Blanc�.
‘The everlasting universe of things
Flows through the mind, and rolls its rapid waves,
Now dark - now glittering - now reflecting gloom -
Now lending splendour, where from secret springs
The source of human thought its tribute brings
Of waters, - with a sound but half its own,
Such as a feeble brook will oft assume
In the wild woods, among the mountains lone,
Where waterfalls around it leap for ever,
Where woods and winds contend, and a vast river
Over its rocks ceaselessly bursts and raves’.
OK so it’s switched off now and again due to water restrictions but like his poem that reminds us how precious water is and how it should not be wasted.
And I think a giant ‘ball’,(monument to a great writer), is better than a monument to a giant cock, which as I said before is only renown for having an extra claw! Cock a doodle doo!
February 8th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Ok , so it is not the best cock I have seen but there are worse you could wake up to in the morning !!!
February 9th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
If Shirley wants to raise the funds for a monument to illustrious writers, fine and commendable, go ahead. But her fatuous comment about the ‘Dorking’ only having an extra claw about sums up her argument. We can all make and be mildly amused by comments about cocks but the fact is that the ‘Dorking’ is a proud symbol of the town and its imaginative placing at an ‘entrance’ to the town is a brave attempt to increase the place’s significance with hoped for benefits to the economy in terms of visitors etc..
Matt ‘dreads’ the thought of emblazoned t-shirts. It’s about time he got himself to Fothergills Coffee Lounge in St Martin’s Walk to acquire an ‘I love Dorking’ t-shirt, all sizes and other goods too (with the cockerel in the shape of a heart). How would he like to wear that in the U.S.?!
When it comes to cheap jibes it should be a case of Cock a doodle don’t.
February 9th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
I’ll get myself down to Fothergills Coffee Lounge for a T-Shirt first thing in the morning Colin because I do love Dorking
These cheap jibes are just the start of many to come over the years I’m sure - well worth the reported twenty grand expense. My taxi driver just said to me enroute from the station ‘What do you think of the cock?’… and he was well aware of the humour involved.
February 10th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Do you have to have any cash to buy those tee shirts in Fothergills? Had a coffee there the other day and was told they only accept cash not cards. Had to pop out to the cash machine to be able to pay the bill.
If Dorking wants to improve the economy maybe they should catch up with the rest of the world.
February 12th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Had a debate at the weekend that the cock looks more like a chicken - from the google referrals coming through on “chicken on roundabout dorking” today it looks like we’re not alone.
February 13th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
Hey check this out - see how much money could have been saved! and we’d have got something that looked like a Dorking Cockerel too… and not a big silver chicken.
http://www.bowbrookstudios.co.uk/1051.html
February 13th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
I came up with another idea why not have a big white cock etched onto the side of Box hill like they do in other places? or maybe they could do that too?
February 19th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
How big is this cock? Can you see it from the M25?
February 24th, 2007 at 10:30 am
Sorry, Shirley but Littlesis has to be right about the Shelley ‘fountain’ in Horsham, now I’ve seen it. OK moving water might improve it but, as it is, a massive ‘peeling’ concrete blob didn’t appeal to me and had far more sexual innuendo than Dorking’s shimmering but innocent cock.
From Whizz’s comment it’s clear he should be concentrating fully on the road ahead.
Matt’s references to the ‘chicken’, though simply meant to be derogatory, are of course correct but as a male chicken rather than female (hen) it is distinguished by being called a cockerel. They have always been a proud symbol so it is entirely appropriate for the town, given it’s long connection…with the town that is, not the hens. (Nothing wrong with innuendo!) Nice of Matt to want to save money but none of it was his, unless he subscribed privately. The silver colour’s entirely appropriate for a public statue as the bird itself can be various colours and if any of the natural colours had been chosen it would look like a kid’s overgrown toy rather than the elegant symbol it is.
As he professes to ‘love Dorking’I'm sure that Matt will want to acquire one of the commemorative tea-towels which are now also available at Fothergills! Or from me direct if you care to contact.
February 26th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
No really, it was a genuine question. Is it as big as the Angel of the North?
I’m from the Midlands, giant cocks are very rare there….
February 26th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
I think if the cockerel was as big as the Crazy Horse carving in South Dakota it would really be something to crow about
February 27th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Can you use debit card to buy those tea towels or do you have to have cash?
February 27th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
JWhizz…sorry but there’s been so much p’brained p’taking about it! (By the way…from next to B’ham myself, originally). As the cockerel’s only 10ft high and the M25’s 4-5 miles away at its closest, across hilly terrain…no chance of seeing it. Difficult even from 100yds along the approach roads, given road signs + trees. It is impressive tho’ but obviously couldn’t be the size of hillside carvings. Giant cocks are rare here too which makes it worth having!
Shirley…they will be available in the Dorking Market this Friday (2nd) from about 8.30 - 1.30. - see me with the ‘I love Dorking’ goods stall. As it’s ‘just me’ and not a company as such, I’m not set up with debit card facilties; would take cheques tho’. Fothergill’s Coffee Lounge, who very kindly sell goods for me (and are worth a visit anyway!) ask for cash to keep things separate from their normal trade. Hope you can make it to the market.
February 27th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
Suzie_Q kindly bought me a Dorking T-Shirt at Fothergills the other day… I’m just waiting for the weather to improve for a photo opportunity with the big Cock.
Word has finally spread to the US now you know, the Google Maps tracker on this site (bottom right menu) showed somebody in Texas came in from a search of ‘Dorking Cock’ last week.
February 27th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
Matt. Did Suzie_Q buy that t-shirt with cash or card? Just wondering….
February 27th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Card!
February 28th, 2007 at 7:30 pm
mmm Colin do I know you? 10feet you say - more like the Kuching Cat than the Angel of the North then? Whoever would have thought that such a little cock could cause so much excitement? Has anyone checked to see if it has the requisite fifth claw? and if it hasn’t is this really the Dorking Cock, or some avian impersonator?
March 24th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
i say leave the cock alone it just goes to show they are not all stuck up in dorking as was thought
April 1st, 2007 at 9:56 am
All this talk about Cock has to stop. It’s on every womans lips in Dorking and has me a little worried. “Cock, Cock, Cock”, that’s all I hear as I walk down the street. We need to find somthing else to fill the minds of Dorking housewives. I say the cock needs to be knocked out, yes bang one out I said, choke that chicken if you will.
We have to move on from mutated fould and demonstrate that Dorking is no longer associated with interbreeding and toffs. My sister and I have lived in Dorking all of our lives and have produced several children who live quite happily with seven toes. Hoorumph for the giant Cock!!!!!
April 1st, 2007 at 10:27 am
I have just been informed that a new Tshirt is to be produced for the WI in Dorking. It simply reads>
Join the Dorking WI, We love our Cock.
April 5th, 2007 at 11:01 am
I am currently purchasing a house in Dorking. I say respect the cock.
April 6th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Chris: Congrats on the house babe!! But the all this talk of cock is getting a bit uncomfortable (you know why) lol
April 8th, 2007 at 10:41 am
I see the Cock has laid some giant colourful eggs for Easter, not quite large enough to see easily for drivers but a passenger can spot them through the grass.
April 9th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
i think you find they are trafic cones the cock has laid, but he a strange looking cock
April 10th, 2007 at 8:48 am
Yes, Martin, traffic cones but what’s strange is making a comment and not justifying it for those who don’t see anything strange about it. Perhaps you mean its uniform colour but that’s not unusual in a public sculpture. Otherwise he’s a fine representation of a ‘Dorking’.
April 11th, 2007 at 12:30 am
would u all just leave the poor cock in peace!?!?!
April 11th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
the first time i say the dorking silver chicken it was displaying an :L: PLATE.
ON SATURDAY 7TH APRIL AT 07:45 AM IT WAS WEARING A ROAD CONE & A SOMBRERO ON ITS HEAD (JUST LIKE THE ONES PEOPLE USED TO ARRIVE WITH AT THE AIRPORT AFTER THEIR (VIVA ESPANIA) HOLIDAY !
I HAVEN’T LAUGHED SO MUCH FOR AGES. DID ANYONE TAKE ITS PICTURE?
April 11th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
I don’t mean to be a cat among the chickens, but I have been reading up on the ‘Dorking’ and apparently it originates from Italy introduced to Britain by the Romans? Shouldn’t the cock be in Italy in that case?
April 12th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
Agreed Harley, but questions have to be answered! So… Littlesis, as most of us originate from The Anglo-Saxons, Vikings or Celts, should we be in Germany, Norway or Spain?
April 13th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
I too saw the sombrero and a police car circling the roundabout trying to work out which way the bunch of youthes who put it their were going to run. Haven’t laughed so much in a long time. Every time I drive to my girlfriends house in Kingswood she asks me how the cock is. We even keep a camera in the car now so that she can whip it out and take a photograph of the decorated cock without stopping….Oooh Err!
April 14th, 2007 at 9:38 am
Came home this morning to find the cock was all covered in pink paint. Some people just cannot be trusted with our great cock. I am going to get some T shirts printed and will be selling them at the boot fair next weekend.>
“I am from Dorking, respect my Cock” This will be inset with a picture of a cockerell for clarity. T shirts will be £17.50 each and will be a limited stock, so grab em quick and support our cock protection campaign.
April 14th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
I hope somebody hasn’t painted the cock pink, I think putting a sombrero on it or large eggs beneath it could be seen as humourous but vandalism would be a step too far. If I lived in the house on the roundabout I’m actually set up a ‘cock cam’ so we could catch these people… that might be what’s needed.
April 14th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
I heard that there was a camera upon the roundabout? Thus being too scared to ride it although I know a few people that have.
Unlucky about the pink paint - how are they going to get that off??
April 15th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
someone has abused our cock,all the woman of dorking should setup guard around the cock to protect it,its for their benifit he stays erect(ed)
April 19th, 2007 at 12:01 am
The FABULOUS silver cock must be very lonely… shame his Easter egg was taken away so soon, upon hatching the contents would surely have kept him company. I think it’s very cruel that he hasn’t been given a pair of sunglasses especially with the hot weather we’ve been having.
April 21st, 2007 at 5:10 pm
hey Colin,
I’m visiting from San Francisco from 1-13 May and one of my daytrips from London will be to Dorking. I would love to purchase some t-shirts for myself and friends. Will you be selling at a market during that time frame, or must I find my way to Fothergills? Any chance you could email me directly and let me know? I’m at klee7609 at yahoo dot com.
Many thanks! Can’t wait to see the cock.
April 30th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
I see they’re going to clean the cock at a cost of £400…
May 19th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Today the cockerel has a Man Utd hat on. We do not approve of vandalism or graffiti on our cock but as this bird is jointly owned by all the residents of Mole Valley we feel that we should be free to decorate and clothe it with topical apparel. Even Donald Duck wears a jacket! Any offers?
May 21st, 2007 at 1:50 am
Today the cockerel has a Man Utd hat on
Photo! Photo!
May 21st, 2007 at 10:41 am
It seems Kelly that you’re proving the point which football (sorry, ’soccer’) fans here accept; i.e. that most MU fans would be hard put to find Old Trafford! You haven’t said what you thought of our cock now you’ve been here. Hope the ‘I love Dorking’ t-shirt has had an outing in SF, if that’s the right expression to use for SF! (Presuming it means the same with you there)
As Ben says, humour and the cock go together - always have in my book - hopefully vandalism will be rejected for what it is.
July 11th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
I’m pleased to have discovered the the dorking cock appreciation society (DCAS) on Facebook today - complete with 1031 members - impressive stuff!
January 18th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Well your fame was enhanced today 18th Jan 2008. As ‘Minty’ from Radio Merseyside used the Dorking Cock in a true or false question. So you gained a bit of fame from the Capital of Culture City Liverpool 2008. That’s why I dropped by. Nice to see “YOUR” Bird associated with “OUR” bird (the Liver-bird). Yours Brian
January 18th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Dorking…capital of culture; could it be? What was the actual question?