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The 'Boy and Ram', sculpted and cast in bronze by Wilfred Dudeney, who was born in Leicester in 1911

Some of the subjects featured in our Famous Residents category have long-since passed away. Others are very much alive, celebrities in their own lifetime, perhaps yet to achieve even more, or fade quietly to obscurity.

But there is a third category of 'Famous Residents' neither truly dead nor even really alive - for surely a statue acquires its very own persona in the place where its creator's hand has bidden that it resides.

One such inanimate celebrity is the 'Boy and Ram' in Derby. The iconic bronze statue was created by the Leicester-born artist Wilfred Dudeney. It was sited in the open-air precinct of the Main Centre shopping development when it opened in 1963.

In September 2005 - when construction of the new Westfield Shopping Centre commenced on the Main Centre site - the 'Boy and Ram' was relocated to Derby's River Gardens, but in 2008 the inseparable duo are scheduled to be reinstated close to their original stamping ground.

Many of Derby's statues and public artworks have attracted criticism, but the 'Boy and Ram' seems on the whole to be rather fondly looked upon.

The ram is a traditional and quite ancient symbol of Derby, latterly indelibly linked with Derby County Football Club, the celebrated 'Rams'. And although the boy might be any boy, he seems perfectly comfortable in his home town astride the ram. And in turn the strangely placid beast seems only mildly ruffled by his surprise 'jockey', so harmony reigns where chaos might so easily have erupted.

Those who hurry past the statue while going about their everyday business may not think too hard about symbolism or 'form' - not always uppermost in the mind when it's pouring with rain or howling a gale - but here is what a more reflective representative of the arts community said about the 'Boy and Ram' a few years ago:

The heart of a busy shopping centre might seem to be an unusual place to find a sculpture. There will be many who rush past and miss it, but those who stop a few moments to look will be well rewarded by this work.

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 lose 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.

This is one of those works you cannot stand still to admire, but must walk around and see every view offered, despite the strange looks from tired shoppers in the café opposite. The faster you walk around the sculpture the more you become involved in the swirling, playful duo's 'dance'.... the bony elbows and knees protruding, the twisted torso and skinny, fragile limbs held down only by the solid rock base keeping the work firmly anchored to the ground.

So now we know. This is no mere lump of bronze, but the very 'Spirit of Derby' itself!

Peter Seddon, November 2007

This is one of a number of Derbyshire statues to be featured in the Famous Residents section of You and Yesterday. If your favourite - or perhaps one you're not too fond of - is not already included, why not set the ball rolling by writing about it. Just click on the 'edit' link to begin.

• Artists With Derbyshire Connections

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County:  Derbyshire

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