MONNOW Valley Arts, a charity specialising in mounting arts educational exhibitions, has arranged for part of a fascinating collection dedicated to the extinct dodo to come to Herefordshire, the first time it has been seen outside of Sussex in the UK.

Through the imagery of paintings, sculpture, cartoons and books from the collection of Ralfe Whistler, the exhibition tells the story of the dodo, a flightless bird found only on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, which became extinct within 90 years of man’s arrival on the island.

The collection of dodo art and memorabilia is the world’s largest, born of Ralfe Whistler’s fascination with the dodo, which began when he inherited a set of dodo bones from his father.

His father died in 1953 and after a career in Canada, Africa and Australia he built himself a new home in the grounds of the family home which he called The Dodo House and started to collect all things dodo. This includes nearly 100 books, many sculptures, carvings, pictures and ephemera from around the world.

The dodo has captured the imagination of naturalists since the 17th century but it was perhaps the depiction of the dodo in Alice in Wonderland by Sir John Tenniel, that gave the dodo its international appeal.

The Whistler collection contains depictions from more than 40 countries.

The Dodo is Dead: Long Live the Dodo can be seen until Sunday, October 27, at Monnow Valley Arts, Middle Hunt House, Walterstone.

Call 01873 860529 or email info@monnowvalleyarts.org for details