A NEW landmark in the shape of an antique horse-drawn carriage is due to be featured in the garden of the Falcon Hotel, Bude.

Bude residents, whose memories go back to the 1970s, will recall that it had a predecessor, put there to remind visitors that the Falcon, established in 1798, is the oldest coaching house in North Cornwall.

Rupert Brendon, who recently bought the Falcon Hotel back into his family’s ownership, located and purchased a similar carriage, made in the 1880s by E Heath of Walsall, according to the original brass hubcaps.

The carriage is technically known as a brougham, since it was modelled on a design created by the Whig politician Lord Brougham in 1838.

The following year, it was reported that Lord Brougham had been killed in a coach accident, but it was discovered that he was still alive and had probably faked his own death in an effort to boost his popularity, and for the thrill of reading his own obituaries.

The new brougham has recently been craned in to the Falcon grounds, and is painted dark blue with a gold pinstripe, to mirror the previous one.

The landmark will draw attention to the Coachman’s Bar and Grill in the hotel, and it will make a picturesque backdrop for the many weddings that take place at the Falcon Hotel.

As well as this, the carriage will restore a historic piece of old Bude, an icon of its ancient coaching days.