England’s talking statues

LONDON — If you’re heading to London or Manchester for your holidays, you might want to add a new item to your itinerary: Statues.

Yes, they may have been silent for centuries, but some of England’s most popular historic statues are soon to find their voice. Reports have said that this summer, 35 statues across London and Manchester will begin telling tales of the past through the voices of recognisable British actors and words from the country’s best writers.

To hear the talking statues, who will first clear their throats on Aug 19, visitors to the cities need to swipe their mobile phones over signs beneath the statues to access the monologues.

X-Men star Patrick Stewart, for example, will be the voice of The Unknown Soldier at Paddington Station; Hugh Bonneville (Lord Grantham on Downton Abbey), will voice Brunel (Station), also at Paddington; Prunella Scales (best known for her role as Basil Fawlty’s wife in Fawlty Towers), will voice the Queen Victoria statues in Manchester and London; while The Kumars At No 42 stars, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Meera Syal, are the voices of Couple On A Seat at Canary Wharf.

The statues will be brought to life as part of a project by Sing London, a non-profit arts organisation. THE DAILY TELEGRAPH