For many years now, Wilf has greatly enjoyed making his home
at the bottom of your gardens, enjoying a range of activities. Whether it’s
feeding the birds, fishing for a whopper, or driving his wild hog bike into the
sunset, he’s been happy to make his way around the many lawns and patios of
Britain and beyond.
So it came as something of a surprise to Wilf when he first heard
of the GGLF, or Garden Gnome Liberation Front. This shadowy group have, over
time, been spotted creeping around gardens known to be frequented by garden
dwellers. Any gnomes resting there the night prior have mysteriously vanished
by morning. Wilf himself once barely escaped their grasp one night. Or so he
likes to boast.
Quite when the GGLF first came into being is uncertain,
though they do have an official Facebook page, along with a brotherhood of
similar organisations, which includes the America-based Free the Gnomes. All of
these groups have a similar core mission; to their minds, gnomes residing in
gardens are being held in captivity, and it’s their job to free them.
Sometimes, the gnomes disappear and never return. Often
however, the elusive captors send photos of a ‘liberated’ gnome to its former
owners, making sure to showcase some exotic new background in which the gnome
is now residing. Whilst their porcelain faces still bear the same smile, there’s
something undeniably melancholy in their expression, and when the gnomes are –
in some cases – finally returned, they look all too glad to be back.
Have you had any run ins with the GGLF? Are you a secret
member whose love of gnomes has turned into a move toward vigilantism? To Wilf’s
mind, so long as he’s returned home safely, he probably wouldn’t mind a brief holiday abroad…
