Town tolerant of other cultures

WHETHER Lindsey Porter is right that the “Blackamoor’s Head” dates back to at least 1676, or my speculation that the “Turk’s head” came to Ashbourne from London in 1784, the fact remains that ever since the Green Man acquired the Blackamoor pub and erected the sign across St John Street, Ashbourne residents and visitors raised no objection to its presence until 2020.

For up to 300 years, there has been a statue to a black man raised in one of the most prominent positions in town. Had it represented an individual known and admired, those who paid to have such a splendid carving created would surely have insisted that the individual’s name and dates would also be carved for posterity.

If district councillors choose to ignore the fact that the reverse side of that same splendid carving displays an identical face “though pale, save for a downturned mouth rather than a smile”, you are forced to conclude that Ashbourne is almost certainly the only town in Britain that has erected a permanent memorial to the “unknown black man” – an honour usually reserved for the most sacred of places.

The fact that Ashburnians have never objected to its presence only serves to underline this town’s acknowledgement and acceptance of other cultures both within and beyond

our shores. What has turned the Derbyshire Dales into a disgrace are the misplaced views of 28 councillors who voted to waste taxpayers’ money on a search for further fuel to pour on the Black Lives Matter fire for no better reason than to burnish their racist-free credentials – and all this because of their knee-jerk reaction to a petition whose signatories clearly knew little about the history of the head. Charles Swabey, Osmaston