Description:At a time of universally grim news the re-appearance of Hebe came as a little light relief last week. Hebe, you may or may not remember, is the name of the bronze statue that used to grace the central island of Holloway Circus until her mysterious disappearance last year. I, for one, have missed her. Of all the reclining figures at Holloway Circus Hebe was the only one that wasn’t alcohol related, and all the more approachable for that. Clearly she turned out to be a bit too approachable. The reports of Hebe’s retrieval show how, in an age of more relaxed attitudes towards the human body, we can still get mealy-mouthed. The statue’s condition, after a year in the shadows, is remarkably good, apart from some superficial damage to her lower body. Which part of her body ? According to the local news the damage was sustained to her thigh; as far as a local government official was concerned it was her hip. I never took anatomy at school, but as far as I’m concerned the pictures clearly show that it was an inch or so of her bottom that was missing. Quite how Hebe was injured in such an embarrassing place is not clear, and I’m not sure I want to know anyway. Welcome back, Hebe, and I hope your thigh soon feels better. Hebe’s scrape puts her in exalted company, for most of Birmingham’s statues have endured some form of public humiliation or accidental amputation over the years. You may recall George Dawson, who used to stand in his own little garden (and crisp wrappers) outside Gas Hall. Dawson had received his fair share of ridicule long before he got to Edmond Street. At the time of unveiling (in 1881) the statue was said to be nothing like the famous preacher it commemorated, and the baggy clothes he wore made it look as if Dawson had decided to take a stroll through the middle of town in his pyjamas. By the mid-1980s (shortly before his disappearance into store) Dawson also had a broken nose. By then George Dawson looked more like a boxer than a nonconformist preacher.