Pub builds giant 20ft snowman out of 2,000 wine bottles

A pub in Somerset has pulled out all the stops for the festive season, constructing a 20ft snowman from over 2,000 empty wine bottles to accompany the inn’s gingerbread house display, which was first installed last year.

Image: Alan Casling (Facebook).

Masterminded by pub landlord Mark Walton and pub regular Ben Selway, The Queen Victoria Inn in Priddy has once again been transformed into a Christmas showstopper.

Walton and Selway recycled the pubs empties to produce the structure which is illuminated in the evening.

The snowman under construction…

The giant snowman stands alongside the pub’s gingerbread house display, first installed last year, which sees the 19th century inn covered in oversized sweets and treats made by two local artists.

Well-known for its festive frolics, in 2016 the pub installed a 15ft Christmas tree made from 1,100 glass bottles and wrapped in 300 metres of fairy lights.

The gingerbread house display, complete with bottle tree and pub pooch, Wilson.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Walton said: “Ben is a very talented engineer and this is the result. It took three people and an electrician well over a week to get it all in place.

“There’s been lots of responses – lots of people stopping to take a look”.

The pub posted photos of the snowman’s construction on social media before the official ‘unveiling’ and Christmas light switch-on, which took place yesterday evening (28 November).

Image: Raymond Murphy @rayraymurphy (Twitter).

The Queen Victoria Inn is not the only pub putting up elaborate decorations. The Churchill Arms in London’s Kensington, which is renowned for its floral displays – spending a whopping £30,000 on blooms each year – doesn’t exactly hold back at Christmas either.

The Fuller’s-owned pub in west London has been adorned with over 21,000 lights and almost 100 Christmas trees. Pub manager James Keogh said that this year’s display features more decorations than ever before and required around three weeks of construction.

Constructing the Churchill Arms display…

Built in 1750, the pub first started building its lavish flower displays back in 1986, Koegh told The Telegraph. 

“People see how beautiful the pub flowers are on Facebook and Instagram and make it a priority to come and see us,” he said.

The Churchill Arms in warmer months…