London for Lost Boys & Other Fans of Peter Pan

“Second star to the right and straight on ’till morning!”

~Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie

Peter Pan in Kensington Garden

“Do you really think that looks like me?” I stared up at the statue I had come so far, and waited for so long, to see in person and held my iPhone to my ear. Peter Pan’s voice continued, but I was no longer listening. I couldn’t help agreeing with his own assessment. He didn’t look as I’d imagined. I couldn’t, however, imagine a more perfect spot to find The Lost Boy.

Perhaps it was the child in me yearning to fly off to Never Never Land and stay young forever, but ever since my Dad read the book to me before I was old enough to read chapter books to myself, I longed to see the statue of Peter Pan. Now that I was here, I was conflicted. The statue perfectly captures the essence of childhood innocence and play, but I was surprised that the child depicted by the statue looked so young. I was too old to fly away with this youngster. Sadly, my feet stayed rooted to the ground. Putting imagination aside, I turned my attention to the QR code sign hanging on the gate in front of the statue. Using my iPhone to scan the code, I found it took me to a website with a button which, when pressed, began to play a recording of Peter Pan speaking. According to the site, this statue is part of a project to animate 35 statues across London and Manchester for a year. (2024 Edit: the sign is still on the gate, but the website no longer works. You can, however, find the audio on Youtube here.)

While listening to the recording I turned away from the statue to look at the surroundings. We had entered Kensington Gardens near the Italian Garden. This was a commission of love by King Albert for his queen, Victoria. The garden of fountains, white stone statues, and benches for peaceful repose was too attractive to pass by without stopping for a few moments. Just past this we came to the body known as Long Water, where ducks happily paddle by and benches provide the perfect place to sit and write. The statue stands beside Long Water. J. M. Barrie chose this location for the statue within the park because he used to sit and write in the garden. Being too old to imagine myself flying towards Never Never Land with Peter, I instead put myself in the writer’s shoes. I could see why he liked this spot.

When the voice in my ear stopped speaking I put away the phone. Although having matured since the reading of the book, I was quite happy to have finally visited this boy that won’t grow up and to know that here at this spot is a reminder to remain young at heart.

Find Peter Pan & Tinkerbell at Great Ormond Hospital

J. M. Barrie gifted the rights of Peter Pan to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and the story is still providing funds for the hospital to this day.

Find the location of J. M. Barrie’s Former Residence

Just a couple blocks from the front doors of the Ormond St. Hospital, in the Bloomsbury neighborhood at 100 Bayswater Road, you’ll find a blue plaque indicating the location of the site where the Barrie residence once stood.

Let’s Chat!

Have you visited the Peter Pan statue? Did he look like you’d imagined? Who and where is your favorite literary character or author statue? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

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