Lotd Wellington and his red wellies

Here he is, standing proudly on his plinth in Hyde Park (Leeds), looking across the road to the University. I passed him hundreds of times as a student. That was 30 years ago (gulp). His red-painted wellies always made me smile on the way to lectures, tutorials, meetings with friends, concerts, etc, etc.. The student myth was that students had painted his wellies, for a laugh. Please don't tell me this isn't true... Some of the paint has peeled off - his wellies need a touch -up