Of sessile and regal oaks

Big Cats and Big Game Hunters alike know the attractions of watering holes.

This watering hole lies south of the river - an alien land to northerners like myself. Having crossed the Rubicon, I found the natives are friendly and neither the urban jungle nor the dialect is impenetrable.

This urban lion is a regal and sessile oak. His coat is replete with representations of the Kings and Queens of this land, yet no stout oak of England is he. His attention appears fixed on the bait in my trap - a pale yet passable imitation of a bayerischen Bockbier.

His name is 'Quercus S Rex'.

He is the creation of Heidi Lee-Sperring (who acknowledges her special thanks to the National Portrait Gallery).