The Tufty Club

For anyone growing up in the UK in the 1960's will know about the Tufty Club hero of numerous road safety "films" and information leaflets. He was created in 1953 and by the early 60's there were more than 2000 Tufty Clubs nationwide with a membership of more than 2 million by 1972.

I was never a member and I didn't realise that Tufty still exists but apparently he does and in 1998 the character was "immortalised" in a ceramic figure.

So apart from the fact that Tufty was a Red Squirrel why am I drawing attention to this particularly British phenomenon? Well there is a real irony that a creature such as this is used to represent road safety, because from my observations of the squirrels at Formby they dash across the paths and roads without bothering to Stop Look or Listen or to Look Right, Look Left and Look Right Again relying on their speed to keep them out of danger, so they are hardly the best example to follow, no matter how cute they are.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I got up nice and early to get some shots of the squirrels before the crowds arrive. The red squirrel population at Formby was decimated in recent years due to a virus but with careful management the numbers are increasing and so I didn't have to wait too long before a these little beauties showed up.