Party hat snatched (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Hat-maker appeals for help after Jubilee headwear goes missing

5:00pm Friday 6th April 2012 in Calne

Calnes novelty hat-maker Geoff Brown is appealing to the public for help after the item he was making for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee was stolen.

Mr Brown, 63, of The Pippin, has been famed in the town for almost 20 years for his unique hats.

He had spent the last six weeks working on his latest Jubilee creation, which he planned to send to the Queen ahead of her birthday later this month.

It is a purple hat complete with Union flags, corgis and a crown.

But it went missing last Wednesday from the Jenny Wren pub, in Lickhill Road.

Mr Brown said: “We had a meeting about the Jubilee and then I went to the North Road club.

“Then on a Wednesday I usually go to the Jenny Wren for a drink.

“When I got there someone was having a 40th birthday party.

“They asked me to take some pictures so I put my hat down on the bar.

“When I came to leave at about 11.15pm I looked for the hat but it had gone.”

Mr Brown enlisted the help of other people in the pub but they couldn’t find it.

“Someone must have taken it. It is a real shame because the hat has taken weeks of work to get right.

“It was to commemorate the Jubilee but I wanted to get it finished for her official birthday on April 21. It doesn’t look like that will happen now. I am disappointed because the Queen won’t get to enjoy it.”

Mr Brown’s hats have raised thousands of pounds for charity over the years and one was even worn on the stage at Glastonbury Festival by Rolf Harris.

He began making them after being forced to leave his landscape gardening job after contracting ME in 1994.

He is originally from Heddington but has lived in Calne for nearly 25 years.

He said: “It is a hobby and a passion and I have loved that I could turn it into something that raises money for charity.

“I have had hats stolen in the past but have managed to get them back.

“Hopefully the person who took it will return it or someone will have seen it and they will return it to me.

“I will have to start work on another one for the Jubilee in the meantime. I have some spare bits and I will have to try to order some more items to go on it.”

If you know where Mr Brown’s hat is, please return it to the Jenny Wren or the Lansdowne Strand Hotel.