Express & Star

Statue of writer to be unveiled at Walsall Arboretum

Three men in a boat will row around Walsall Arboretum to mark the unveiling of a statue of famous borough author Jerome K Jerome – writer of literary classic Three Men in a Boat.

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The trio of boaters will be on Hatherton Lake around 10.45am on Saturday June 11 before the £15,000 bronze bust is revealed in the visitor centre at 11.30am.

Borough actor Jeffrey Holland, who played Spike in Hi-de-Hi, will unveil the statue which, atop at its plinth, will stand between six and seven foot tall.

The project has been led by the town's Jerome K Jerome Society which has lobbied for the author, who received the Freedom of Walsall, to be recognised.

Chairman Tony Gray said: "This is an excellent opportunity to attract tourism to the town.

"The setting of the statue in the Arboretum is a wonderful addition to the park which has benefitted from a makeover in the last two years and is now one of the best arboretums in the UK.

Three Men in a Boat provides a humorous account of a two-week boating holiday along the River Thames.

It has never been out of print since it was first published in 1889 and is estimated to have sold more than one million copies.

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