STREET ART EXMOUTH STYLE -
THE POWDER MONKEY
THE POWDER MONKEY
Does anyone take
any notice of the art hung out on the streets of Exmouth? I'm talking
about the pub signs. Do people actually recognize that they are indeed works
of art? Genuine paintings hanging there for all to view; painted by
starving, anonymous artists in their garrets?
The Powder
Monkey pub sign is an example.
It may just be a
Wetherspoons pub (and there's nothing wrong with that) but the
meaning of The Powder Monkey's name is interesting. The boy in the
painting is a 'powder monkey', the name given to children who worked
on battleships in days of old ferrying gunpowder from the ship's hold
to the cannons. It wasn't exactly a job with many long-term prospects as life
expectancy was thought to be limited, particularly at times of
battle. Exmouth's most famous powder monkey was actually, however, a
woman called Nancy Perriam who served in the navy at the time of
Nelson. Legend has it that she miraculously survived numerous battles
at sea and lived to the tender age of 98 years. A blue plaque has been
mounted outside her old home in Exmouth.
The Powder Monkey
is a haven for artists of every hue (as are many pubs in Exmouth - there's a joke in there somewhere) and
apparently even Morrissey has been spotted in there ordering drinks.
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