Stephen Smart, known in his surroundings as “Dude”, is already retired in his sixties. But he used to make a living as a truck driver. In addition, he is a lover of country music and westerns, so among his big favorites are actors like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. He loves everything to do with the Wild West.
That’s why 25 years ago he set about making improvements to his garden in the English county of Kent. Instead of transforming it, for example, into a tropical paradise or a small corner of Asia, as his compatriots like to do, he rushed in a completely different direction.
In the garden, he creates a miniature copy of a town in the Wild West. “I just wanted to go somewhere. And so I built a city. I started with smaller buildings, then I built a saloon and then it was off,” he describes in an interview for the KentOnline website.
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Mr. Smart is lucky with his hobby. He met his wife while he was immersed in the transformation of the garden into a country town, so it was never a surprise to her. On the contrary, as he says, she supports him in his passion. Even his neighbors don’t mind what’s going on in the Smart family’s garden. However, this was not always the case. “I had a neighbor who reported me every now and then. But then he moved out and now I get along great with the neighbors. Everyone in the neighborhood knows me,” praises the lover of the West.
Mr. Smart is well aware that his hobby and the decoration of the garden may not suit everyone’s taste, for example his own children have their own opinion about him, but many passers-by are enthusiastic.
When they catch a glimpse of his front yard landscaped like an old American cemetery, old wagon wheels, saloon-style revolving doors and a sign welcoming visitors to the Dude Ranch, they often knock and ask if they can take pictures. Then the proud owner invites them to go and see the back garden. And its visitors do not regret. It’s like entering another world.
Photo: AP
In his town, in addition to a saloon, he discovers a prison, a bank, haberdashery, and even a funeral service. “I’m always adding something there. There is still work to do. Here we don’t have the weather like in the West, so there is always something to fix. But I wouldn’t like to specify any amount that I spent on all of this. It’s a hobby like anything else. When you play golf, you also don’t count how many balls you’ve bought,” he says.
People used to bring all sorts of relics related to the American West to his doorstep. Thanks to this, he collected a lot of interesting objects. “I have a cavalry uniform, gambler clothes, funeral service clothes, bartender clothes, I have all the clothes for every building, so when people come out I can be a different character,” he boasts.
The idea arises that the English senior could perhaps go to America and see the places where the action of his favorite films takes place. But that probably won’t happen anymore.
“I was saving up to go to America but then a friend of mine in Australia was diagnosed with stage four cancer and I went to see him instead. I think I’m too old for that now,” he says resignedly to the Express website.
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