Martin Roberts of the BBC’s Homes Under the Hammer, celebrity guest editor of Property & Home, is leading a fight to reinstall the statue of the famous bear under the clock at Paddington Station, after it was moved for safety reasons. But why is Martin Roberts fighting to save Paddington Bear’s statue?
The bronze statue of the Peruvian bear from Michael Bond’s children’s books, later made into a popular animated series and a series of movies, was installed under the clock at Paddington Station where the bear arrived in London and met his hosts Mr and Mrs Brown. At the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the Queen and Paddington starred together in a comedy clip before the Party at the Palace.
But the statue, designed by Marcus Cornish, was moved for ‘safety reasons’ with the recent opening of the Elizabeth Line.
See also: Martin Roberts Gets Paddington Put Back in His Place
Martin Roberts’ Fight
Fans are outraged, with many saying they can’t find the new location, which TV star Martin Roberts described on social media as ‘near a drain, by a coffee shop’.
Network Rail say that the statue had to be moved because it was blocking an evacuation route for the new Elizabeth Line, but now a petition has been started calling for the statue to be moved back to the location under the station clock where it has stood for 22 years.
The bronze statue of Peru’s marmalade-sandwich loving bear, erected 22 years ago, got the boot after bosses at Network Rail decided his position blocked a safety evacuation route for the new Elizabeth Line.
The statue shows the marmalade sandwich-loving bear in his familiar hat and leaning on a suitcase. So why is Martin Roberts fighting to save Paddington Bear’s statue?
Martin Roberts shared his dismay on social media when he couldn’t find the statue during a recent visit to the station, and told his followers on social media that the statue was now ‘near a drain, next to a coffee shop’.
Other Twitter users shared photos of the statue’s new location, and supported Martin’s demands to save the statue and restore it to its original location.
Paddington Bear
In his social media video, Martin said: “Paddington Bear, as you know, was discovered by Mr and Mrs Brown in Paddington station. And for years, there has been a Paddington statue underneath the clock over there, where Paddington was first found. When they opened the Elizabeth line, they decided – in some mad idea – that they would move Paddington to here – in this rubbishy little area, away from everybody.”
He added: ‘So, I don’t know who made this decision. I know there are bigger problems in the world, right? But I think this is rubbish. And so, help me complain to get Paddington moved back to where he should be, which is over there by the clock, which is where he was found.”
Network Rail responded to Martin Roberts’ video saying that the statue would be getting “a new pedestal and backdrop” but that the statue would not be moving back to its original location.
What do you think about Martin Roberts fighting to save Paddington Bear’s statue?
See also: Martin Roberts Shares Emotional Update Following Health Scare
