Manchester Statues: The Vimto Monument
Manchester is chock-a-block full of statues that represent some of Britain’s most important historical figures, from activists, to monarchs to war heroes, but did you know that we’ve also got a huge wooden carving of a Vimto bottle?
Well now you do!
Well now you do!
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NewsTranscript
00:00Let's have a talk about some of the statues in Manchester.
00:02Hello and welcome to Manchester World.
00:04I'm Theo Hewson-Betts and this is the fifth part of a series of explainers
00:07where I'll take a look at some of the most prominent statues in Manchester
00:10and explain a little bit about their history and why they're important to the city.
00:13Today we're going to be looking at a bit of a light-hearted one.
00:16That is the large Vimto bottle that can be found just outside of Manchester's Gay Village.
00:20Now, the drink Vimto was first invented back in 1908 by John Nicholls
00:24in an attempt to gain a foothold in the soft drinks market
00:26and try and convert the English worker away from alcohol.
00:28As such, he created Vimtonic, the idea being that the drink would give you Vim,
00:33or in other words, energy and excitement.
00:35The drink has always been a popular seller, particularly in Manchester.
00:38The statue itself was unveiled in 1992 and consists of a huge Vimto bottle
00:41surrounded by the fruits and herbs that are used to give it its distinctive taste.
00:44It was refurbished in 2011 and sits outside the old John Nicholls factory,
00:49although the building has now been repurposed.
00:51It's a quirky little Manchester thing and it's well worth a visit,
00:54particularly if you want to just marvel at some of the spectacular things
00:57that you didn't know happened in this city.