Xylophone Man to be ‘Immortalised’ in Historic England exhibition?

You already know we hold a special place in our heart for Frank Robinson (aka the Xylophone Man). He’s starred on several of our magazine covers (most notably Issue 19 and Issue 100). We were also the only publication ever to interview him (read it back here).

Imagine our delight at the fact that he has now been put forward as a candidate in Historic England’s new project ‘Immortalised: The People Loved, Left and Lost in our Landscape’ which aims to find little-known public tributes and create an exhibition out of them, which will be held in London from 30 August – 16 September. 

The lasting tribute in Nottingham streets to the Xylophone Man is the stone paving on Listergate that lies in one of the streets where he used to busk. It’s this piece of our public architecture which has seen Frank nominated for the exhibition by swathes of the Nottingham public. Historic England is an offshoot of the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with protecting the historical environment of England by preserving and listing historic buildings, ancient monuments and advising central and local government.

There are two other Nottingham men who have also been put forward for the exhibition. These are:

• Feargus O’Connor (1794-1855), the former editor of the radical Northern Star newspaper, who is commemorated with a 7ft statue in the Arboretum
• Timothy Ryan, a doctor who lived and worked in Langold, Worksop and died in 1959. There is a memorial cross to him in Doncaster Road.

Here at LeftLion we’d love all of these guys to be featured in the exhibition, but we’re particularly rooting for our Frank.