Willoughby Pond's Trading Post

Bearers carry goods to the go-down as Willoughby Pond discusses trade matters with District Commissioner Carstairs. The ladies admire the bougainvillea alongside the stoop - a home-like touch in the Heart of Africa.

Another feature for Daftest Africa - Willoughby Pond's Trading Emporium. This establishment consists of a single-storey main building, a go-down (warehouse), in the pattern of those found along the River Congo, all surrounded by a palisade for security against animals and theft.

The palisade is made of twigs cut to size and glued to wooden battens using a hot glue gun. Spackle is used to build up and weight the base, before flocking is applied and fixed in place with PVA. The whole is secured with a spritz of diluted PVA mixed with suitable shades of acylic paint.

The main building is made of foamcore with a spackle rendering, with embroidery battening used for the trellis work along the stoop and behind the bougainvillea. Shutters are simple card, painted with acrylics and the slats drawn on with a black marker pen. Its corrugated iron roof was cut from a pizza box and one of the paper sheets carefully stripped off. This is a fiddly job but the results are worth it. The whole is painted with acrylics before given a wash of India and sepia ink. Barely visible to the right on the roof is the stovepipe, made from a short length of plastic coffee stirrer.

A useful little structure, it can also serve as a schoolhouse, mission, hospital or residence.