Paddington comes to Michael Bond’s Reading
A new Paddington statue has been unveiled today in Reading’s Broad Street ahead of the new film Paddington in Peru being released.
Reading played a large part in the life of Michael Bond, the creator of Paddington, who grew up and went to school in Reading. He also started his working life in the town. His experiences in Reading shaped his books that have inspired generations and have more recently become immortalised in film.
As a boy during WWII, Michael Bond remembered seeing many child evacuees arriving at Reading Station with all their possessions in a little suitcase and a label round their necks with their address on, which inspired his depiction of Paddington Bear as a refugee. Today, most visitors to Reading come through the new Station, which was opened by Her Majesty the Queen in 2014.
Michael Bond started his working life working for the BBC in Reading. He was working as a BBC Engineer’s Assistant on the roof of a building in Reading’s Town Hall Square when a German bombing raid blew up the building on 10 February 1943. The building hosted a community restaurant and sadly 41 people died, but Michael survived and got a bus home covered in dust from the explosion. There is an information board in Town Hall Square recounting this incident in Reading’s history or pop into nearby Reading Museum to find out more about this period of Reading’s history. Coincidentally, Reading Museum has become a Museum of Sanctuary this year. 1940s bomb damage can still be seen on a number of buildings in the square.
After the war, Michael Bond worked at the BBC Monitoring service at Caversham Park in North Reading. "At that time Caversham Park was staffed almost entirely by refugees: Russian and Polish people and different nationalities," Michael said. "My Paddington Bear books also had a character who was a Hungarian refugee - Mr Gruber.”
Alexa Volker, Reading BID Manager, said: “We’re delighted to welcome our very own Paddington to Reading town centre this October. The new statue will be an exciting addition to Broad Street and will undoubtedly draw visitors and families from across the wider region who’ll be able to sit down, have a chat and even take a selfie with everyone’s favourite marmalade loving bear!
The new Paddington Bear statue is located on a bench in Broad Street outside Waterstones.
Find more information about Michael Bond and Paddington on the Visit Reading website
