by John Prince
If you ever go along Main Street in Roos, you might be wondering why a huge metal robot is standing guard outside one of the village’s hostelries.
Dominating the frontage of the Roos Arms is an 8ft scale model of a Transformer from the Hollywood film of the same name. The detailed model is hard to miss and has become one of the village’s talking points.
But it’s when you go through the pub and out into the garden that things get even more curious.
Movie models and memorabilia are scattered all around, from a huge Xenomorph from the film Alien and Star Wars battle droids, to slightly less intimidating models of a Native American, Charlie Chaplin and a cheeky monkey.
But hiding away from sight is a tribute to one of the area’s enduring local legends.
In a stable (or rather, garage) is where a 10-feet high animatronic statue of the headless horseman of Holderness resides, waiting to mount up and ride the dark highways at night when Halloween comes…
It’s all of course a bit of fun, but what started as a quirky personal collection has actually blossomed into a marketing asset.
The models have helped support the pub and kept business buoyant at a time when venues across the UK – particularly those in rural areas – are having to close and are struggling to keep their doors open.
Landlady Lea Smales (above) said: “I think my husband’s a bit of a collector-holic to tell you the truth. He just likes anything that’s different.
“They were made by a gentleman who used to make them for The Gadget Shop in Princes Quay in Hull.
“He used to sell them to the shop, then they went bust. He was keeping them at a friend’s warehouse at Harrison Solway haulage company, and my husband Bob was a friend with the owner Paul, so they bought them before Paul sadly passed away.
“We’ve never had a pub before, so we brought them in two years ago. We used to have them in our garden on our farm and on the drive.
“It is good for trade. The day we opened when we took over, my husband put the Transformer on a little loader at five o’clock in the morning and put him outside ready for the kids going to school.
“All the children in the village were saying, ‘Where’s that come from?’ It was a really nice surprise for them.
“I was saying, ‘You’re going to wake the village up.’”
Lea says that customers – especially holidaymakers – are drawn to the displays, and are often startled or amused and ask Lea and Bob what the story is behind them.
Children enjoy spotting the figures, which adds to the family-friendly environment of a village pub.
Lea added: “For Valentine’s Day we might put a bunch of flowers in the Transformer’s hand and some hearts and things like that. For Christmas, we might put a bit of tinsel around Charlie Chaplin and decorate them a little bit.
“We did something for VE Day, and we sprayed the two Star Wars figures in camouflage with little hats on them. We can just adapt them.
“It’s eclectic. It gives people something to talk about when they come into the bar.”
The headless horseman makes an appearance every Halloween, moving and speaking as passers-by walk past. Yet according to Lea, the novelty prop might not be entirely disconnected from local folklore.
“My husband swears he saw him coming down the yard and in the garden at Owstwick where the farm is,” she said with a smile.
“It’s all fun, but we would get some more. We could have a whole army of robots which might come alive at night.”
(There is also a legend of a headless horseman haunting Atwick near Hornsea, so maybe the poor chap likes a trot up the B1242.)