Obsessed Man Collects Over 20,000 Bird Ornaments

Faline · #1 04-09-2012, 04:22 PM

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It all started when Lawrence Cobbold was 9 years old, after he purchased a picture of a bird . Today, at age 38, his home is so filled to the brim with bird ornaments. His place is so full of bird memorabilia that he has to wash up, do his laundry and have his meals at his parents’ house. In the past 25 years or so, Lawrence has managed to collect over 20,000 ornaments related to birds. His treasures could all be worth about £40,000 ($63,000) according to his own estimation.
Lawrence’s amazing bird collection consists of 15,000 ornaments, 4,800 thimbles, 1,000 fridge magnets and 300 plates. Apart from these, he has about 300 pictures, 150 mugs and 100 jigsaw puzzles that are in some way, related to birds. Each and every room in his house, every cupboard, loft and shelf is completely covered with bird-related items. Each room, in fact, has a theme of its own. The three-bedroom property belongs to his father Tony. Lawrence moved there after his previous residence, a two-bedroom house, was no longer sufficient for his ever-growing collection. Four hours of Lawrence’s day are spent rearranging and cleaning his collection– two hours before work and two hours after. When he’s not busy with his collectibles, he works full time as a warehouse attendant at the Co-op Retail Distribution Center in Plympton, England. He usually buys the ornaments at Plympton, Plymstock, Mutley Plain and Elburton, where he is constantly on the prowl for new items to add to the collection.

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Lawrence says his unique hobby was inspired by his father’s habit of keeping birds as pets. “It’s a combination of things that got me interested in collecting birds,” he says. “My dad used to keep live birds and my godparents had ornaments.” Tony has a bit of a bird-obsession himself; he used to own about 300 budgies, canaries, cockatoos and finches. He had them all for about 20 years. “It’s a lovely, a great hobby,” says Tony of Lawrence’s obsession. “His house is like one big car boot sale except no one is buying or selling. It’s harmless, it’s not like he does drugs. My son is completely normal,” asserts Tony.

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f course, there are times when Tony does admit that his son’s hobby is sort of bizarre. “I just hope I die before him. I don’t want to clear all this out,” says Tony. Lawrence is perfectly all right with the arrangement. “If he dies before me I’ll have his garage as well,” he says.