Boy and ram

Just along the River Gardens from the Council House is this statue of a boy and a ram; not surprisingly, called 'Boy and Ram'.

Now 40 years old, the statue was originally sited in the Castlefield Main Centre, a 1960s built shopping complex close to the middle of town. In 2005, when the whole area was bulldozed to make way for the new Westfield shopping centre, the Boy and Ram was relocated to the River Gardens. The intention, though, was that this new home would be only temporary with the statue destined for a significant location in the Westfield upon its completion in 2008. Well, the Westfield was completed in 2008, but the statue doesn't appear to have moved in yet! Hmmm!

I do like this unpretentious work of art, but I was slightly amused by the description on the Derby Public Artwork website:

'Boy and Ram' reminds me of the pose of an American-style bucking bronco, where the foolhardy rider clings on at the back and grips the animal's horns at the front, in a battle of man and beast. Yet here there is no epic struggle, no bravado. The barefoot boy, his hair hanging foppishly over his face, bears a rather bored expression and appears almost to loose interest in his sport. Slightly built, waif-like, somehow almost immortal, he could fly off effortlessly at any moment, like an angel or Peter Pan.

I couldn't have put it better myself  :p