Pegasus, a flying horse sculpture above the entrance to Flying Horse Walk on Cheapside, a timeless boutique shopping destination and iconic walkway situated in the heart of Nottingham’s retail district.
"Flying Horse Walk is a timeless boutique shopping destination and iconic walkway situated in the heart of Nottingham’s retail district, uniting the busy shopping area of St Peter’s Gate and South Parade.
Before opening its doors as a Nottingham shopping centre in 1988 and later becoming FH Mall, Flying Horse Walk has been home to a hotel, warehouse, shops, dwellings and five public houses – the Punch Bowl Vaults, the Blue Ball, Eight Bells, the Ship Vaults and the Flying Horse Inn – with the first of many pubs, the Punch Bowl Vaults, dating back to 1758.
Steeped in History -
Steeped in history, the walkway takes its name from the 17th century Flying Horse Inn and subsequent Flying Horse Hotel. Historians believe the building served as a home and place of business for wealthy tradesmen before, and during, the 16th century when stagecoach trade was prominent in the area. After becoming an inn, the Flying Horse became a coaching destination in Nottingham with stagecoaches driving in through the South Parade (Poultry) entrance, which was then situated on Cuckstool Row, a reminder of its proximity to Nottingham’s Market Place and its historic public cucking stool (public punishment chair). In the 20th century, the hotel provided accommodation for actors performing at the Theatre Royal and for visiting cricketers playing at Trent Bridge. It is rumoured the Council ordered the Council House to muffle the bell chimes so players could sleep undisturbed before Test matches.
Over the last 600 years Flying Horse Walk and the adjacent buildings have been actively developed and adapted, following continuous changes of use and name. Despite the building’s continual evolution some unchanged structures, such as fragments of medieval stone walling in the cellars and several timbers of great age, remain and the building retains a Grade II listed status.
Links to the Past -
The mock Tudor façade at the South Parade entrance visibly reflects the shopping centre’s past and the hotel’s substantial renovations by D.G Millett in 1936 before being developed into Flying Horse Walk shopping centre in the 1980s. It is believed Millett based his timber-framed design on the Rose and Crown at Saffron Walden in Essex before Bredero Properties cleared the 19th and 20th century structures to the rear away, creating a walkway through the building."
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The piece appears to be constructed from stainless steel rods, bent into shape. Some parts of the sculpture contail a fine steel mesh.
"Pegasus, the winged horse in Greek Mythology, was involved in some of the most intriguing tales of the times.
From his birth to his death, Pegasus remained a mysterious creature capable of everything, symbolizing the divine inspiration or the journey to heaven, since riding him was synonymous to “flying” to the heavens.
Pegasus was represented as a goodhearted, gentle creature, somewhat naive but always eager to help.
For his service and loyalty, Zeus honored him with a special immortality turning Pegasus into a constellation on the last day of his life.
The myth said that Pegasus was the son of mortal Medusa and Poseidon, god of the sea. Pegasus and his brother Chrysaor were born from the blood of their beheaded mother Medusa, the gorgon tricked and killed by Perseus.
A more detailed version of the myth said that two of them were born when Medusa’s blood mixed with the foam of the sea. The myth says that Pegasus was born as a winged horse because his father Poseidon had the shape of horse when seducing Medusa. When Pegasus was born, a huge thunder with lightning pierced the sky, and that’s how his connections to the forces of skies were established.
But the most common version of the myth about Pegasus says that the goddess Athena tamed the winged horse and gave him to Perseus, who later needed to fly far away to help his lover Andromeda.
Back to the aftermath of Pegasus’s birth. Parentless, he was raised by the Muses at Mount Helicon, where he was taken by goddess Athena. In all of his excitement for being given to those women, Pegasus was striking the side of the mountain with his hooves and his marks caused springs to turn into flowing fountains of inspiration.
Those springs became sacred to the Muses who loved and respected the “flying horse”. But to one of them – Urania, the Muse of Astronomy and Universal Love, Pegasus was particularly important. She saw a heroic future for Pegasus as well as some, possible celestial honor waiting for him. Urania suffered a lot when Bellerophontes, a mythical hero, took Pegasus away.
Hesiod’s story about the Bellerophontes’s “hijack” of Pegasus confirmed that whenever Pegasus struck his hoof a fountain of inspiration burst immediately. One of those sacred springs was the Hippocrene (meaning “horse spring”) on Mt Helicon.
In any case, Pegasus ended up on Mount Olympus, and served Zeus with his thunder and lightning magic powers, whenever the Supreme God wished for them. And his main caretaker from the youth, the Muse Urania, together with other Muses, welcomed Pegasus’s return in full joy and happiness.
Pegasus lived on Mt Olympus until his last day. Ever since then, he became an inspiration for artists of all kinds, a fantasy for kids who dream of their own Pegasus to reach the mysterious caves and labyrinths of their imagination."
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