Frozen workers

There's not that much public art in Nottingham, by which I mean art in every day public places.

This statue of four people walking through the street is at the top of Chapel Bar. It seems to me from the individuals' determined expression and the fact that they're not making eye contact with each other that they are on their way to work.

The statue used to stand at the top of the Market Square near Debenhams, but was moved when this area was redeveloped for the tram.

Notable Nottinghamsters - William Booth

William Booth was born in 1829 in Notintone Place, off Sneinton Dale (not be be confused with Notintone Street which in on the other side of the road).

Booth left Nottingham in his twenties and founded the Salvation Army in London in 1865.

This statue stands in front of Booth's house, which is now a museum . The row of three Georgian houses is surrounded by the modern William Booth Memorial Complex which houses a church, community centre, lunchclub, playgroup and older person's residential home. St Stephen's with St Matthias Church is on the opposite side of the road.

Access to the museum courtyard is down the alleyway between the parade of shops on the left and the complex.

Famous lions

Two art-deco stone lions guard the entrance to the Council House.  They were created by local sculptor Joseph Else (1874-1955), who was the Principal of the Nottingham School of Art between 1923 and 1939.  Depending who you ask, the lions are either called 'Menelaus and Agamemnon' or 'Leo and Oscar'. Meeting 'by the lions' has become a Nottingham tradition, with the left lion being the most popular of the two.  It's said that the lions roar when a virgin walks by.

The Joseph Else is a Wetherspoon's pub on the South Parade of the Market Square, just down from the Council House.

There's a local arts and listings paper called the Left Lion.

Art or graffiti?

Graffitti can be a terrible eyesore and Nottingham City Council have a crack anti-graffitti squad  who remove graffitti really quickly - 24 hours for offensive stuff and 48 hours for anything else. However, every now and then (and without condoning vandalism) you see something like the work above which is quite arresting.

These headstones appeared in the Rock City car park the day after both Jeremy Beadle and Heath Ledger died.

Robin Hood

If you ask people all around the world what they associate with Nottingham they will probably say 'Robin Hood'.  This statue of Robin Hood is outside Nottingham Castle. 

The council's failure to capitalise on the Robin Hood story is a prime example of modest and contradictory Nottingham.  Many visitors come to Nottingham and want to know about Robin Hood. What is there for them about from this statue and some bits and bobs to buy in the Castle Shop and tourist information centre?  Nothing.  

There used to be an attraction called 'The Tales of Robin Hood' just round the corner from the castle on Maid Marian Way, but it closed in early 2009 after struggling to meet the rent.  The attraction was quite innovative when it first opened. It was based on the the Jorvik Centre in York and had animatronic figures and holograms, but it didn't develop with the times and ended up looking rather tired and very run down.  It remained popular though, with seemingly every little child who visited coming away with a Robin Hood hat and bow and arrow.  All the 'treasures' have been taken over by the council for safekeeping until a decision can be made about how to display them.  The council says there's no money for them to set up a city-owned attraction.  Half the site is now a Tesco.

Someone wants to do something though.  Local showman enterpreneur, James Mellors, wants to build a 100m foot statue of Robin Hood  with lifts going up one leg to a viewing area and restaurant.  Possible locations could be Colwick Woods, Victoria Embankment or near Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station.