As unusual hobbies go, it may not be as bizarre as extreme ironing or stone skipping, but making cork boards out of old wine bottle corks, has proved a lucrative business for one Norfolk man.

Eastern Daily Press: Peter Tipper has raised over £6000 for The Nook appeal by making cork boards.Byline: Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2019Peter Tipper has raised over £6000 for The Nook appeal by making cork boards.Byline: Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2019 (Image: Archant 2019)

Peter Tipper, 87, from Southrepps, near Cromer, has just completed a cork board for the new East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH) Nook office in Framingham Earl.

Over the years he has raised about £6,000 for EACH from the sale of his cork boards, and his collection totals about 90,000 corks in nine barrels.

The former antiques restorer said: "They have been sent to me over the years, and I used to visit the coast once a month, going to places like Morston Hall, and to pubs, and they would collect them for me.

"I had the idea to do something for children's charity. I make the boards in batches of six and then sell them, and give the money to EACH. The most expensive one I've sold was for £250, but mostly they go for about £40 to £60.

Eastern Daily Press: Peter Tipper has raised over £6000 for The Nook appeal by making cork boards.Byline: Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2019Peter Tipper has raised over £6000 for The Nook appeal by making cork boards.Byline: Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2019 (Image: Archant 2019)

"They can be any size, but the average is about 2ft by 3ft by 2ft.

"I used about 500 corks on one board, but the average is about 350. In a fortnight I can have about six finished.

"Anyone and everyone buys them. They are not always used as pinboards and put on walls. Pubs have them, and they go to people's homes, and some are even in America."

He said his cork boards were "completely different to others".

Eastern Daily Press: Peter Tipper has raised over £6000 for The Nook appeal by making cork boards.Byline: Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2019Peter Tipper has raised over £6000 for The Nook appeal by making cork boards.Byline: Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2019 (Image: Archant 2019)

"I try to make them as individual as I can. Each one has a different design, and I put different things on them, such as champagne corks, sherry tops, and I title them. They are mostly geometric designs, such as triangles and squares.

"It only takes corks, scrapwood and labour. The only thing I buy is the fixing agents, and the varnish. You varnish them twice and the corks will never come away from the board.

"I get a kick out of doing it. The people who collect the corks for me get a kick out of it, and EACH gets a cork board that lasts a lifetime, so everybody wins."

Eastern Daily Press: Peter Tipper has raised over £6000 for The Nook appeal by making cork boards.Byline: Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2019Peter Tipper has raised over £6000 for The Nook appeal by making cork boards.Byline: Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2019 (Image: Archant 2019)

Eastern Daily Press: Peter Tipper has raised over £6000 for The Nook appeal by making cork boards.Byline: Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2019Peter Tipper has raised over £6000 for The Nook appeal by making cork boards.Byline: Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2019 (Image: Archant 2019)