Hopping mad. The land of the Frog.

Sheila Crown has the world's largest collection of memorabilia devoted to this amphibian and it's still growing.

© Swindon Evening Advertiser, 25 May 2002 Reporter: Bhavani Vadde

Frog memorabilia in all imaginable forms makes Sheila Crown's collection the largest in the world.

The self-confessed 'frogophile' has been collecting items with a frog theme since 1979 and has now displayed her assortment of amphibians in the country's first frog museum.

Sheila inadvertently started her collection when she bought a green china ornament to match her sitting room when she lived in London.

She says it was not the frog that attracted her but the colour green, but other frogs kept following and have now spawned into her present collection.

"One thing just led to another," Sheila said. " I never started off intending to collect frogs. It just happened like that. Now I see frogs wherever I go and I just want the collection to keep growing."

Even before you reach the purpose built frog museum, frogs emerge in the most unlikely places such as a triangular road sign with a frog picture warning people of their impending entry into the land of the frogs.

But mention the subject of real-life frogs to Sheila and she is not a happy woman.

"I hate real frogs, they are absolutely disgusting," she says.

"They are slimy and leap about everywhere. I can't stand them. We probably have some in our pond, I don't get close enough to have a look probably. If I saw one I would run a mile."

The museum is a special converted 2,690 sq. ft. granary next to Sheila's house in Baydon, near Swindon.

It contains an abundance of amphibian artefacts ranging from toilet seats to umbrellas, a frog jelly mould, height charts, a chess board, mobiles, pictures, cuddly toys, slippers, playing cards, jewellery, ornaments and the list goes on.

Sheila says displaying her collection in a museum prevents them from taking over her house.

"We used to have them all over our house in London and it was really cumbersome, when you sat down on a settee you could be assaulted by frogs," she said. "When we moved to the country, we needed to find somewhere where we could house the frogs away from the house so we specially converted this working granary."

Her collection was confirmed by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest on May 8th and now stands at 10,537, even though Sheila adds to it on a daily basis.

Sheila, who is a swimming teacher and has three children says her family and friends are supportive of her frog fanaticism.

"My family are tolerant and I have even turned some of my friends into frogaholics. They all buy me lots of frogs for birthdays and anniversaries.

"It's actually unbelievable how many different frogs I've been given."

The museum was officially launched by a life size Kermit the Frog in the presence of 300 guests including frog enthusiasts and collectors from around the world.

"I was so frogged out getting ready for the launch, I nearly had a complete mental breakdown," she added. "It's taken 23 months to set this up but now it's just toadily unique."

FrogsGalore is a private collection with no charge for entry but appointments must be made in advance.

For more informmation log onto www.FrogsGalore.com or telephone 01672 540914.