The fate of an unusual but striking presence in a Merseyside shopping centre that made parents lives easier has been the topic of speculation through the years.
KES, which stood for Kid Eating Snake, was the name of a much loved fixture at the Hardshaw shopping centre in St Helens in the 1980s and 1990s.
Local shoppers reminise about KES, the much loved serpent, who provided a welcome distraction for their children as they went about their business.
READ MORE: Boy left alone to build a cathedral 'bigger than St Paul's'
However, at some point KES disappeared from the shopping centre and a number of sightings down the years have left many wondering as to its fate.
It's interesting to note that KES, although unique in its own way, is not the only beast to turn up in shopping centres throughout the country throughout the 20th Century, but their existence is down to one man.
Sculptor Peter Hand designed and created many play sculptures to both entertain and brighten up the shopping experience in the UK.
In the mid-1960s, he was approached by representatives in Poole to create a series of animal sculptures for a new shopping centre in the town.
The success of the intriguing creations led to further requests for the sculptures from more shopping centres, which can all be seen on the artist's website peter-hand-sculpture.co.uk.
It was in the 1980s that Peter was commissioned to create a play sculpture for the new Hardshaw Centre in St Helens which opened in 1982.
KES holds a special place in the artist's collection as it was one of the final shopping centre play sculptures he was commissioned to make.
On its design, Peter said on his website: "[The] representative who contacted me regarding a play sculpture made it clear that something a bit special was called for, so I proposed an idea that I had been considering for some time.
"That was a sculpture based on the children's game of Snakes and Ladders in which one climbed a ladder and slithered down a snake.
"In my sculpture there was short ladder leading up to the snakes mouth and a long tunnel, incorporating slides, leading to the exit at the tail.
"This Snake and Ladder was called KES by the locals (Kid Eating Snake) and was counted a great success. It lead to the commissioning of another similar, but larger, sculpture for a shopping centre in Middlesborough."
At some point, after many years of enjoyment and use, KES was retired from the shopping centre and is believed to have been relocated to an outside children's play area to continue to delight children for years after.
Its current location and condition is still a subject of some speculation, but such was KES' popularity, a Facebook group was created called 'Bring Back the Kid Eating Snake (KES) to St Helens'.
The group was created to reinstate KES, or a newer version of the much loved snake, in St Helens for the next generation of children to enjoy, with members of the group reminiscing on their childhoods spent enjoying the play sculpture.
One man said: "I used to love going on KES as a child. It was one of the highlights of being dragged around all the shops with my mum. There used to be rumours of kids getting trapped inside which made it all the more daring to go inside. They should make an adult size one. That would be awesome for us dads getting dragged around the shops haha."
Does KES awaken any memories for you? Let us know in the comments section below.
Another said: "It would be packed every weekend. The kids would love it I know my two would adore climbing through it today. Bring back KES."
In a previous story in the ECHO, former St Helens kids also shared memories of the shopping centre icon.
Dave Helsby said: "I will always remember going to the shops with my mum on the promise that I could play on the big snake in the Hardshaw Centre.
"All good fun until someone broke wind in the middle of the snake. Great memories."
With ambitious plans to regenerate St Helens town centre now starting to take shape, some would welcome a return for the beloved snake - or one like it - should the right opportunity arise.
Love nostalgia? Have the best articles emailed to you for free with our nostalgia newsletter. Click here to see all the Liverpool Echo newsletters.
