I glanced at this sculpture as I rushed on towards the Gherkin. That was when I thought I noticed that something was missing.

On my way back, I slowed down and took a closer look. The cockerel was gone. All that remained was the pile of grey fibreglass rocks where he used to stand.

To doublecheck I walked around to the other side of the sculpture, drips of rain icing down inside the neck of my coat. But there was still no sign of him, although I could see the edge of the stand where he once stood on the top rock.

I paused, wondering. The plaque describing Pittu Pithu Pitoo as ‘made of fibreglass and garden ornament’ was still there, and it still listed its creator as Simeon Barclay. Just one problem – the ‘ornament’ – the cockerel – was not still there.

I took a photograph and left, hoping that the internet would help me. But the cockerel doesn’t seem to be there either. So where has he gone, with his chest out, and his feathers fine, telling the world exactly how he feels?

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023