The World of Groggs - 50th Anniversary - What's In Store?

Photograph Courtesy of The World of Groggs

As you are aware the World of Groggs will be celebrating their 50th Anniversary in 2015. It was back in 1965, in a garden shed that John Hughes established what has gone on to become something of a global phenomenon. Loved the world over, but no place more so than in Wales itself. In a country beaming with National pride, The World of Groggs is revered as a true piece of Welsh history and over the years the work produced has graced the homes of many fans young old and in between.

It is not just the collectors who love Groggs but of course those who have been lucky enough to have been Grogged themselves. Taking great pride in being immortalised in clay and grabbing any opportunity to show off their new found Groggy status.

As we approach the 50th Anniversary, we know something special will be produced to commemorate such a wonderful occasion, but as to what it may be... well that is a mystery. Richard Hughes teased us all in his recent Blog update, indicating we can expect something but of course keeping any details top secret.

"The big Five O is almost upon us. I must admit it makes me a little nervous to be celebrating a Golden anniversary in a World Cup year, challenging but very exciting. I have a few ideas for commemorative pieces already but must keep them to myself for now."  

We can of course speculate as to what we may see, but no doubt we will likely all be extremely wide of the mark, but hey that is often the fun of being involved with communities of fellow collectors... the speculation, the excitement and the debate as to who may be next to be Grogged always introduces some often interesting ideas.

So where to start? Well a good place may be to take a look at previous Anniversary pieces which have been produced to get an idea of the direction the 50th Anniversary may take inspiration from.

I take you back to 2001, The World of Groggs were celebrating the 30th Anniversary of their move to what is now The Grogg Shop. In 1971 John Hughes moved his operations away from his garden shed to a much more suitable home for the Grogg magic to happen and what better location to choose, a form pub in the heart of Treforest, Pontypridd.

Photograph Courtesy of The World of Groggs

So how did the Groggshop commemorate this Anniversary, well they went back to 1971 and captured a hugely iconic moment in Rugby Union history, the successful British Lions Tour of New Zealand. A special piece was produced featuring Welsh legend Gareth Edwards in his iconic "Hand off" pose from the 3rd Lions Test against the All Blacks in Wellington. Only 30 pieces were produced of this fantastic piece crafted by Richard Hughes, with only 27 actually going on sale to the public, making it an extremely rare piece.

It's clear to see why this piece was chosen to commemorate the 30th Anniversary. Firstly, it is an iconic moment in British Rugby history. Secondly, the star of the piece is a Welsh legend and thirdly Gareth Edwards was one of the first players ever created by John Hughes so clearly resonates in the history of the Hughes family and the World of Groggs.

Photograph Courtesy of The World of Groggs

Another piece was also produced in 2001 and that was a Grogg of founder of the Groggshop himself, Mr John Hughes. complete with tools in one hand and a traditional Dragon Grogg in the other this was an extremely popular piece.

Photograph Courtesy of Jonathan Fry

 Fast forward to 2005, the Groggshop celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the year they were established. Again a commemorative piece was produced, however it didn't have any significance to the year of establishment 1965, but instead captured another memorable moment of Welsh Rugby Union, the Grand Slams of  1976 and 1978. Richard produced a piece which captured the Grand Slam Front Row in all their glory, the legendary Pontypool Front Row was captured a number of times in various different Groggy guises.

Photograph Courtesy of The World of Groggs

Now to 2010, the 45th Anniversary of the World of Groggs being established and we saw something completely different and unique in contrast to the other commemorative pieces produced, Mount Groggmore was born. Created to look like Mount Rushmore in the USA, Groggmore featured a line up of some greats of Welsh Rugby including Neil Jenkins, Gareth Edwards, Shane Williams and JPR Williams, I suspect it is no coincidence that these are some of the most Grogged players ever. Only 45 of these beauties were produced and sold out extremely quickly, with fans recognising the quality and stature of such an iconic piece.

Photograph Courtesy of The World of Groggs

 

A year later the shop celebrated the 40th Anniversary of their move to The Groggshop. Again the focus was the 1971 British and Irish Lions Tour of New Zealand. However, the piece didn't feature any Welsh players, in fact it didn't feature any players at all, in stead we were blessed with a truly magnificent piece, The Lions Roar. The Lion is kitted out in full kit, bloodied, scared and roaring as he charges forward with rugby ball in hand. Standing the New Zealand fern and with an arm outstretched in "Hand off" pose very similar to the one featured in the earlier piece of Gareth Edwards from the same Tour (No doubt this is Richard's way of nodding to Mr Edwards). Only 71 pieces were produced and it is the only one of the commemorative pieces which is still available to buy today (although numbers remaining are very low now).

Photograph Courtesy of The World of Groggs

So we have seen what has come before, what could we possibly expect for the 50th Anniversary piece? I have a few unique ideas, let us know what you think yourselves and we will share the best ideas on the blog.

The first contender could be a Grogg that celebrates the place where the magic happens, The Groggshop itself. In a similar vain to pieces such as Mount Groggmore and The Captains Climb I could picture the shop captured in clay form, painted in the traditional Red and Green colours and the forecourt filled with miniature versions of some of the greats to have been grogged over the years. It would certainly be an epic piece.

Photograph Courtesy of The World of Groggs

Another option could be a Grogg which captures the people who have been so vital in the continued success of the World of Groggs. Something capturing John, Richard, Carly and Cathy possibly with nods to the roles they have undertaken over the years as the World of Groggs developed to the place it is today, John and Richard busily crafting the Groggs, Cathy Painting and Carly balancing several tasks phone being propped up against her ear by her shoulder, typing with one hand on the computer and safely packing up the Groggs for delivery in the other hand, maybe with little JJ strapped to her chest in his baby carrier ;-)

Photograph Courtesy of The World of Groggs

One fact we can't ignore is the fact that the Anniversary falls on a World Cup year. Could we perhaps see something with a nod towards the World Cup? Maybe a Grogg of the alleged inventor of Rugby William Webb Ellis, the man who lends his name to the Trophy presented to the winners of the World Cup?

Photograph Courtesy of Peter K. Lloyd

Still on the World Cup theme perhaps we could see something along the lines of a Grogg of the Webb Ellis Trophy itself, maybe with a number of past winners or current players all clambering around the trophy in the hope to be the next ones to hold it aloft, imagine The Captains Climb but instead of a mountain it is a trophy in the middle.

Of course given the fact the World of Groggs is based in Wales, with a Welsh Founder, huge Welsh Fanbase and the fact it has immortalised a huge amount of Welsh Legends in Clay, there is a very high probability that the Anniversary piece could have a Welsh theme. Over the years Wales have seen a number of successes in the world of Rugby union, including Grandslams, Triple Crowns and having a number of legendary players gracing not only the red of Wales but also representing the like of the British and Irish Lions and the Barbarians. One of the most recent successes came in 2013 with the Welsh players forming a huge percentage of the Series winning British and Irish Lions team in Australia perhaps this could influence the new Grogg or maybe the recent victories over England in the 6 Nations could offer food for thought. We could even go all the way back to 1965, the year the World of Groggs was established and see a piece which commemorates the Welsh Triple Crown winning team.

I'm sure we would all love to get into the creative mind of Richard Hughes, to get a little sneak peak at what is to come. For now all we can do is speculate, but one thing we can all be certain about is whatever the finished piece will be, there is no doubt it will be superb!