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Searching for Paddington Bear in deepest darkest Peru (or in the Provincial parts of the UK)

In 2024 some 24 statues of Paddington Bear were installed across the UK (and one in the Republic of Ireland) to mark the release of the latest Paddington movie-

https://www.thepeoplesfriend.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/paddington-bear-statue-trail-all-23-locations/

I was told about the Penrith one in a Christmas Card from a friend- I'm in Penrith all the time, but had missed that. It is in Little Dockray by the way.

I was over there on Saturday on altogether more serious business, a little bit of fun was had in a heavy day in seeking the statue out- all the card had was a picture of it so I had researched where the shop in the picture was.

Posted by
4352 posts

They must have decided to release more at some point. We had a newly installed Paddington Bear in Norwich by the cathedral when we visited last summer (2025). They had a brochure in the ticket office/gift shop in the cathedral and many Paddington items to buy. Nigel can verify as he saw it too : )

Posted by
1096 posts

That's lovely! We saw one of these in Norwich last year, tho interestingly I don't see Norwich listed at the link above. The statue looked just like the others. And of course, we got to see the statue put up by the UK embassy in Lima during our visit two years ago, which we came upon as a nice surprise.

If people are interested in Paddington-related sites in London, they may also be interested to know that Michael Bond (author of Paddington) is buried in Old Paddington Cemetery in Kilburn. I have no idea how intentional it was that he was buried in a place sharing a name with his most famous creation. His gravestone is easy to find as people leave little Paddington mementos.

Posted by
215 posts

I believe Paddington is still in Chester on a bench at the quieter (duller) end of Foregate Street.
Good for footfall for local businesses.

Off topic I can't believe the Peoples Friend magazine is still being published! I have vivid memories of reading it at my Nan's as a child,

Posted by
2790 posts

My childhood love of the Paddington books is the reason London was my first solo trip abroad. Next time I will have to find Michael Bond's grave--thanks to Cat for mentioning it!