Bizarre

Know what this is? Yes, I know it's a fence! But look closer, know what the fence it made of?

These are old, surplus medical stretchers from WWI. They have been turned on their sides and used to make this fence around a public housing development in England. I came across a reference to this kind of thing is something I was reading a month or two ago. It was such a bizarre notion that I went in search of some images online, but couldn't find any. So I did some follow up research and ended up emailing the British National Trust (kind of like the US National Park Service). After my request for information got bounced around a bit, I got a reply from someone in London, who said that the specific development I had referred to in my email was gone, but that it had been a common practice. In fact, the Tube line one of his friends takes home goes right along one of these housing developments. He'll ask his friend to stop by and take some pictures and then he'll email them to me.

The next day, I had an email with a stack of pictures. The one above is one of the better ones. This is a closer shot, showing the "leg" of the stretcher.