This week’s annual Marketing Derby Embassy event, held this time at the spectacular Tower of London, offered its usual different perspective on Derby – looking at the city and what it has to offer from among the twinkling lights of the capital city, writes Simon Burch.
Inevitably, the speeches and chat cast a rosy glow – a glow made slightly more rosy by thousands of the famous bright red Remembrance Day ceramic poppies (made in Derby), which had been installed around the Tower ready for November 11.
The poppies, we were told, were another reminder of what Derby can do – even if the majority of people who will see them over the next few weeks will be blissfully unaware of how they were conceived and made here (by artist Paul Cummins and his team of creators), 120 miles up the M1.
Perhaps it doesn’t matter, but it does add another creation to the ever-growing pile of stuff, like railway bridges, aircraft engines, cars, hot dogs, trains and Industrial Revolutions, which Derby people have given to the world without getting the kind of glory which results in great hordes of tourists coming here to visit the city behind the inventiveness, creativity and craft.
It’s certainly not through a lack of artefacts and stories, and nor is it, as I learned this week, through a lack of interest, either.
Because last weekend saw the fifth successive event devoted to another world-leading Derby creation, an event which attracted people from all over the world to celebrate another homegrown global phenomenon.
If you didn’t hear about it, the event in question was Tomb Raider Day.
And the name of the phenomenon is Lara Croft.
Yes, we all know the story of how Lara was “born” in Derby as part of the Tomb Raider computer game, which was created by Core Design in 1996 and went on to become one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time.
We know that she has a road named after her and a star embedded in the pavement in Iron Gate.
But, perhaps because she’s a made-up person from 30 years ago and a star in a hobby we associate with teenagers playing in their darkened bedrooms, most Derby people don’t really seem to give her a second thought.
So it would certainly be a surprise to them to learn that among the people jetting in last weekend was an archaeology professor from California making his annual Derby pilgrimage.
Or Chris Hughes and his daughter Emily, who visit the event from Wrexham every year and think it’s amazing to drink in the same pub where the Core Design staff used to hang out after work. (Mr Grundy’s, since you ask).
Or Tomb Raider cosplayer Gabriela, who is known online as Croft_Rider and flew in from Sofia, Bulgaria, and said coming to Derby is “like celebrating Christmas”.
Or another diehard Lara fan, Alissa, who took only the second flight in her life from Cork, Ireland, and made a beeline for a building which, to Lara Croft fans, is what Graceland is to Elvis Presley fans – 55 Ashbourne Road, where Core Design was based in 1996 and where Lara first took shape.
I met all five – and many more – when they took part in a quiz at QUAD on Friday, the night before Tomb Raider Day, where they joined 250 others to dress up as Lara, talk about Lara, listen to discussions about Lara and buy Lara merchandise.
There was a lot of Lara, and there was no shortage of people telling me how the opportunity to come to Derby each year is something they wouldn’t miss for the world.
I know.
This isn’t the kind of message someone who comes from Derby is used to hearing about Derby.
We’re more used to hearing about how the place is run down, or complaining to each other about the lack of shops, or the Market Hall, or what on earth is going on with St Peter’s Street, yet here was a group of people who were beyond excited just to be here.
The professor in question, incidentally, is Chris Lowman, assistant professor of teaching at University College Irvine, in California, from where he’d flown in specially.
An expert in anthropology and archaeology, he gives talks on Lara Croft, and when we spoke he told me how he spent the day spotting architectural features around Derby which he was sure had found their way into the games.
This included the fish on the side of the Dolphin Inn, which, he speculated, might have inspired the fountain in the gardens of Croft Manor – Lara’s on-screen home.
I’d never heard this take on the Dolphin before, and although it’s certainly historic, I’d never regarded it as an object of wonder and something of potentially deep significance.
Nor was I prepared for his recognition of Lara herself as a character who, in Chris’s words, embodies “a strong, independent adventurer who has inspired multiple generations of gamers to keep playing games, but also to do other things in life”.
Like simply to find resilience and dig deep during hard times, or even, like in Chris’s case, to pursue a career in archaeology.
There have been so many occasions in my life where the people who seem to express the most love for Derby are those who aren’t from here originally.
Maybe it’s our birth right as Derbeians to see only its flaws and its scars as we walk through its streets, while outsiders feel the joy in every footstep.
I’m not a Tomb Raider fan. I’ve never owned a PlayStation and never have played the games for hours on end. And I’ve never felt a sense of awe as I’ve driven up Ashbourne Road.
But I am a fan of my city and I’m thrilled that hundreds of people want to come here because they have a different perspective on what Derby is and what Derby means to them.
I mean, how fantastic is that?
But also how sad that a city that is crying out for attention, positive recognition and tourists can host the only Tomb Raider event of its kind in the world – and which was a sell-out – without the vast majority of its own population even knowing that it’s even taking place.
And Derby people are oblivious, I think, to the fact that our city has created something – or someone – who has the power to bring people of all walks of life and from all over the world together, who has shone a light into their lives during dark times and who has given many millions more of them hours of escapism and fun.
No, Lara Croft doesn’t exist. And yes, she’s just a computer game character. But while we’ve been taking her for granted, her legend and iconic status has grown.
She is a talismanic character in a multi-billion pound industry and a hero to a new generation of fans – many of whom agreed that Derby hasn’t made enough of her over the years.
So next year we have a chance to put things right. Next year is the 30th anniversary of Tomb Raider being released, there will be a new Tomb Raider series being filmed for Amazon Prime and Luke Earle, organiser of Tomb Raider Day, is planning something bigger.
I hope that Derby will be ready. Lara Croft may have become part of the (street) furniture but she’s waiting to be reclaimed and to be celebrated – and our city, for once, will be at the heart of the story.
This blog was written by Simon Burch, who is the co-founder and director of Penguin PR, bringing more than 25 years of experience in journalism and public relations to the business.
Before launching Penguin PR, Simon worked as a senior reporter and editor for regional newspapers and today he uses that insight to help organisations across education and business tell their stories.
