A Begrudged Christmas Tradition

This morning I received a text message from my dad. When I say 'a text message' I actually mean THE text message. At some point today a festive tradition of more than one hundred years was adhered to. Albeit somewhat reluctantly. Every year the statue of the Old General himself, (Benjamin Mayo), is dressed as Santa Claus, to the delight of children and grown ups alike. It heralds the arrival of the season as much as the first robin redbreast.

In August 2009 I got the local media all a tizz when the pub was boarded up. My work paid off last December when the statue was dressed in the regalia therefore keeping the tradition unbroken. I was honoured to not only dress the statue myself, but to perform the unveiling to an appreciative Hyson Green. This was on the first of December last year.

This year, it seemed as if this was finally going to be the year that the statue didn't get dressed as Santa. I tried and tried to rally the community and force the pub to acknowledge this tradition. Last night I posted some angry tweets, sent some angry emails, and plotted to spray paint something on the side of the building. Thankfully this was unnecessary as today the statue was dressed up at last.

Sadly, the costume is all he has. There were some years when the whole balcony has been over-decorated. Last year I did a fantastic job of the display. The General was back lit by fairy lights, and shoe boxes were wrapped to look like presents. As you can see by the pictures, this year it looks a little bit lacking, but at least the people of Nottingham can rest easy this Christmas as after a little worry, tradition has been observed.

I am trying to buy the pub from the company who currently own it, as they seem satisfied to let the place fall apart. If/when that deal is done, you can guarantee that this custom will continue.