Pictured: Hayley Gwilliam, from The Libertine, with FSP
sales manager John Tudor
There's a monkey puzzle currently on offer to customers at a
Shropshire theme bar - and it's not a tree.
The Libertine Cocktail Bar and Tea Room has opened in Shrewsbury
and now boasts an unusual pub sign outside - a long-tailed monkey
made from steel.
The sign was the idea of bar owner Sam Taylor and was created in
just two minutes and 30 seconds by leading county manufacturer
Fabweld Steel Products of Telford.
Sam said: "All the customers ask about the monkey hanging
outside, it's got a lot of people puzzled. The name of the bar came
from from the Johnny Depp movie 'The Libertine' - which tells the
story of John Wilmot, a 17th century poet and rebel who drank his
way to an early death but was posthumously acclaimed for his
work.
"And the idea for the monkey came from a painting of Wilmot in
the National Portrait Gallery. He was painted by Hans Holbein with
his pet monkey and the portrait gave me the inspiration when I was
thinking about a sign for The Libertine."
Designers at Fabweld Steel Products, in Madeley, created the
monkey sign out of 4mm mild steel.
Sales manager John Tudor said: "We're known throughout the
industry for our manhole covers and drainage equipment, but we have
the design and manufacturing capability to create almost anything
of metal.
"Being asked to create a monkey is probably one of the most
unusual requests, but we were delighted to be able to help
Sam."
Earlier this year Fabweld Steel Products invested £250,000
in a state-of-the-art laser cutting machinery which was used to
plot out the monkey's dimensions, before being cut from a single
sheet of steel in two minutes and three seconds.
John added: "We have a Sign Shop and our in-house designers can
take a drawing and turn it into a professionally produced badge,
plate or sign in a very short time. We can add the customer's
design of messages or logos too. The monkey is the strangest one
we've done so far I think but it does work for such an innovative
theme bar."
Sam said: "Fabweld came up with the best design in the right
material which will fit in with the décor at the right
price. I wanted to use a local company and one that offered a quick
production and delivery time. I'm very pleased with it and it fits
in with our plan to be out ofthe ordinary.
"Libertines didn't stick to the rules and nor does my bar. We
serve cocktails in tea cups or even jam jars and my idea is just
always to do things differently."