Petra - Salford Quays, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 28.342 W 002° 17.817
30U E 546665 N 5925048
This bust of Petra the dog is a memorial to the first ever TV pet. She was a mongrel and appeared on the Children's TV program Blue Peter between 1962 and 1977.
Waymark Code: WMMBEV
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/26/2014
Views: 2
Blue Peter is a British CBBC children's television programme. It first aired in 1958 and is the longest-running children's TV show in the world.
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Petra appeared on Blue Peter between 1962 and 1977 and was the first ever television pet. She made her first appearance when Christopher Trace and Valerie Singleton presented the show. Chris was the first Blue Peter presenter and he took care of Petra. She became a pet for all the children who were unable to have their own and they eagerly followed Petra’s training and antics on the programme.
Sculptor William Timym made a bronze statue of her after she died and this was given pride of place at the front of Television Centre, before being moved to the Blue Peter garden in 1984. In 2011 Petra’s statue was moved again and she now welcomes visitors to Blue Peter in Salford, as she looks out over the new garden.
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The statue was moved to this new site in 2011 because the BBC moved the production of many TV and radio programs to here from London. This was done as part of a decentralisation exercise. The site is part of a redevelopment of the old port of Manchester and Manchester Docks.
The statue stands on the edge of a new Blue Peter Garden and is next to a Metrolink tram stop, built at the same time as the area's redevelopment.
The bronze bust stands on a stone block and has the following inscription.
PETRA
1962
1977