People in the Nottinghamshire village of Gotham are hoping their link with the Batman universe can help them save the local Royal British Legion building.
The building closed at the end of January because of financial constraints, but fundraisers hope they can raise enough money to turn the 40-year-old club into a community centre.
The site has been declared an ‘asset of community value’ which means villagers have until April 2 to try to buy the building themselves.
Gotham shares its name with the fictional crime-ridden city which appears in the Batman series, although locally it is pronounced ‘Goat-ham’.
Campaigners have already raised £100,000 for the legion project but need to raise another £110,000.
Mike Sheppard, Chairman of Gotham Parish Council, said: “We need to get funds from outside the village so we are taking advantage of our unique situation.
“We are hoping that because of our name it will attract the attention of American Batman fans.”
He added that they were already receiving interest on social media from the states.
Batman is not Gotham’s only link with America, as ancestors of former president George W Bush lived in Gotham between the 12th and 14th century.
If successful the villagers intend to turn the building into a community centre including a cafe and community shop.
The villagers’ ambition does not end there as they are optimistically approaching new Batman actor Ben Affleck to turn on the Gotham Christmas lights on December 6.
How the Gothams got their names.
The village of Gotham’s title comes from the Old English phrase for Goat Home.
The villagers of Gotham traditionally had a reputation for being mad, with King John’s messengers commenting that when they passed through the village they found some of the inhabitants endeavouring to drown an eel, and others chucking blocks of cheese down a hill.
There’s even a famous nursery rhyme about the ‘wise men of Gotham’:
Three wise men of Gotham,
They went to sea in a bowl,
And if the bowl had been stronger
My song had been longer.
Therefore when batman co-creator Bill Finger was looking for a name for a fictional asylum for the criminally insane he had to look no further than Gotham.
