An elderly couple were left in shock after realising that their beloved garden ornament had a pretty terrifying truth behind it.
We all know that having a presentable home is a priority for many people and gardening is just an extension of that.
Whether you do it for fun, as a hobby or you’re a serious landscaper for your own property, wanting to have the most stand-out decorations is understandable.
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But what happens when you decide on an old ‘dummy’ missile as part of your décor to find that it’s not as harmless as you’d initially thought?
This is what happened when an elderly couple decided to keep a missile in their garden and proudly display it, believing it had no charge.
Sian and Jeffrey Edwards from Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, now feel like ‘it was like the passing of an old friend’ when their display bomb was detonated by a bomb disposal team.
Thought to date back to the late 19th Century, this little explosive was used by Mrs Edwards to smack her towel over to remove dirt after gardening.
Now that’s some risky business.
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However, it all came to a head when on Wednesday evening, police knocked on the door to tell them that he had seen their bomb and would need to contact the Ministry of Defence as a precaution.
Just one hour later they were notified that a bomb squad would be pulling up the next day to deal with it.
Completely unable to sleep, the Edwards couple had been told that their street might need to be evacuated, but they refused to budge.
Mr Edwards told the BBC: "We didn't sleep a wink all night. It knocked us for six. I told the bomb disposal unit 'we're not leaving the house, we're staying here. If it goes up, we're going to go up with it'."
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When the Ministry of Defence arrived the following morning and removed the 64lb ‘naval projectile’, their tests proved that bomb was, indeed, live with a tiny amount of charge. It was then covered with five tonnes of sand and detonated in a disused quarry in Walwyn's Castle.
But the couple were crushed, calling the bomb ‘an old friend'.
"It was an old friend," Mr Edwards said, "I'm so sorry that the poor old thing was blown to pieces."
The bomb, which had been found by previous owners of the house over 100 years ago, had a long history.
According to Mr Edwards, the Morris family found it in an interesting way.
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He said: "Warships for the Royal Navy used to drop anchor in St Brides Bay and point their guns towards Broad Haven and open fire.
"They used to use the sands for target practice. They'd make sure there was no one on the sands, mind!
"Well Pop Morris, who went around delivering lemonade, was going down to Broad Haven with his horse and cart and found the shell.
"He struggled back up the beach with it, put it on the back of his cart and had a very bouncy seven-mile ride back home. He plonked it upright in the front courtyard and that's where it remained."
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The bomb was later painted red to match the house's window ledges before the Edwards bought it in 1982.
According to the BBC, the Ministry of Defence said: "We can confirm that on 30 Nov 23, Ashchurch Troop, 721 EOD Sqn, 11 EOD&S Regt RLC, responded at the request of Dyfed-Powys Police to a suspect item of ordnance.
"The EOD team assessed the item and determined it to be a 64lb naval projectile which was removed from the scene for subsequent explosive demolition."
Britt Jones