Beryl Cook Sculpture Trail

The Beryl Cook Sculpture Trail is out across Plymouth from 29 January to 31 December 2026, a year-long project that turns Beryl Cook's paintings into life-size 3D sculptures. It marks 100 years since she was born, and the figures are placed in the very Plymouth spots that inspired them in the first place. They were made in partnership with Theatre Royal Plymouth's TR2 production centre, so they're not just flat images brought to life—they're full-sized and standing right on the street.

The original group takes some of her most recognisable characters and puts them back where they belong. There's a cheerful shopper from The Market (1978) outside Plymouth Market in the city centre, and Brian Pearce—stage name Ruby Venezuela—from Tom Dancing (1976) on Old George Street, just outside The Bank pub. A bowls player from Sabotage (1975) is out near the peace garden on Plymouth Hoe, and a couple tucking into fish and chips from Hips and Chips is over on The Barbican, outside The Dolphin pub. A jolly sailor from Sailors and Seagulls (c.1970) is also on the Hoe, next to the Coffee Shack. Two newer figures, also inspired by Hips and Chips, were funded by the Plymouth Waterfront Partnership and unveiled near the Belvedere on the Hoe.

If you want to see the paintings they're based on, the trail runs alongside Beryl Cook: Pride and Joy at The Box, which brings together over 80 works—including rarely seen paintings and textiles, plus material from the Cook family archives. Between the two, you get the original art and the sculptures that stepped out of the frames.

The trail is free, so you can pick and choose which ones to visit or make a proper day of it and track them all down. They're best seen in daylight hours, and with the whole thing running until the end of December, there's plenty of time to get around.