Dragon sculptor crowned 'king' at festival

Under warm sunny skies, the gathered crowd cheered as a crown of willow and flowers was lowered on to the head of 71-year-old retired welder Robert Stubley.

But this was not an East Midlands version of Game of Thrones, or a Wicker Man-style ceremony designed to encourage a bountiful harvest.

Instead, this was how the people of Sneinton, Nottingham, chose to honour a man who had created them a much-loved sculpture of a dragon.

The mock coronation took place at the Sneinton Festival on Saturday, with Robert declared "King of Sneinton" by organisers and those attending.

His work, the "Sneinton Dragon", was commissioned by Nottingham City Council after a public vote and was unveiled in November 2006.

The artwork was installed near the junction of Manvers Street and Sneinton Hermitage, where it continues to watch over people to this day.

Reminiscing on Robert's behalf, his daughter Shelly and son Tim said that although his work was loved by the local community, it was not always appreciated by art folk.

The pair said this stemmed from his "working class" roots and a lack of formal training.

"I do recall that there were some artists that were quite demeaning towards it, saying it was kind of art and craft, and not art. I think dad was quite upset about that," Tim said.

"There's not much artwork by working class people like my dad," Shelly added.

"A lot of public artwork is by people that have been through art school. My dad was a welder, and worked hard all of his life, so it's really nice that it's there."

Although health problems have now stopped Robert from working on new projects, his family say they are grateful his work has been recognised.

Festival organiser Heather Hodkinson said she hoped his "coronation" would help to educate people the sculptor was from their own community.

"Everyone knows that dragon, and everyone feels proud of it, and it feels like they're coming back to Sneinton when they go past it," she said.

"But a lot of people wouldn't have known that he was the creator.

"I think in a way, even though it wasn't made with a folklore tale in mind, we're sort of creating our own folklore and our own stories."

Shelly said the coronation of her dad had been a "really poignant" moment.

"I think a lot of people have wondered what happened to him, and he spends a lot of his days on his own now, his life's quite limited because of his dementia," she said.

"So it's very special for us to see him out and about in his community."

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