*LIVERPOOL* - Thomas Major Lester (1829-1903)

This is one of quite a few statues in St John's Gardens in Liverpool, just down from Lime Street railway station. It's in memory of T. Major Lester who founded a charity which set up lots of schools to help children. The statue was put up in 1907 and has a benevolent looking Lester, holding a suitably bedraggled child.

On the far side of the plinth is an inscription which reads:-

"He was a pioneer in opening homes and schools where destitute children could be fed, clothed, educated and started in life, and worked enthusiastically for them to the end of his days."

The sculptor was George Frampton - more details about the work can be found here. There is also a picture of pupils at one of his schools and his gravestone on the Liverpool Schools website.

Overall:- 6/10

*NOTTINGHAM* - Brian Clough (1935-2004)

After Alex Ferguson, I reckon that Brian Clough can probably be considered the 2nd best football manager ever (in England) and it was his achievements with Nottingham Forest which earn him this lofty status. He won the league with them in 1978 and then back-to-back European Cups in 1979 and 1980, managing them in total for an incredible 18 years (mind you, Fergie did 26 years at Man Utd).

This statue is in Nottingham town centre and was unveiled on 6th November 2008 by Clough's widow (he died in 2004 aged 69) - specific info about the unveiling ceremony can be found here, including a video of the unveiling itself (scroll right down to the bottom). It was chosen from a shortlist of three by a selection panel earlier in the year, the winning design by Les Johnson made into an 8ft tall bronze statue that cost £70,000. On the whole it's fine, but I'm not a great fan of the hands above the head pose which seems a bit too self-congratulatory, bearing in mind Clough seemed very down to earth.

That said, it still does a decent job of recognising a true footballing legend - below is a Google streetview image showing the road down which the statue faces.

Overall:- 6.5/10

*EDWINSTOWE* - Robin Hood & Maid Marian

The third and final Robin Hood statue I saw on my mini-tour of Sherwood Forest was this one which is on the pavement in Edwinstowe town centre, not far from St Mary's Church where, according to some of the tales, Robin Hood married Maid Marian.

The rugged image of Robin has given way to a wimpy looking character, accompanied by a rather insipid, skinny looking Maid Marian. They both look like gawky teenagers to me and the statue doesn't conjure up any great romantic ideals or heroic themes.

Despite the vintage look this is a modern statue by Neale Andrew - the full inscription on the wet-looking plaque (it had been raining on the day of my visit) is:-

Robin Hood & Maid Marian

By Neale Andrew, A.R.B.S.

Unveiled on 23 July 1998

Councillor Chris Winterton

Nottinghamshire County Council

Regenerating Communities

Incidentally Neale Andrew did a commission for another Robin Hood statue a few years earlier for Doncaster airport (unveiling info here) which has more action to it and further highlights the drabness of this effort which didn't fill me with awe.

Overall:- 4.5/10

*SHERWOOD FOREST* - Robin Hood

Also at the Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre very close to the statue in the previous post, is this classic image of Robin Hood, standing tall in the forest, bow in hand. It's located off the path in the middle of some greenery and is very lifelike, particularly if you view it with nothing but forest behind (see below).

There was no visible info about this classic statue but after a quick Google search I found on this page the following:- "at the nearby Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre there is a fibreglass statue of Robin fighting Little John on a bridge; and there is also a more recent one of Robin firing his bow – formerly a central feature of the food court at the McArthur Glen Designer Outlet Village, off junction 28 of the M1."

So this used to be at a food court in a shopping center (this one I think). Getting moved to Sherwood Forest from here must have been like a killer whale getting rescued from an aquapark and released back in the Arctic Ocean.

Whatever its origins this is a fantastic statue, capturing the essence of the Robin Hood character and making him look suitably macho (he tends to be a bit camp in some TV and film depictions - all that sleeping around in the forest with his merry men).

Overall:- 8.5/10

*SHERWOOD FOREST* - Robin Hood & Little John

This action statue was at the Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre near Edwinstowe and features Robin Hood and Little John when they first meet and battle with their quarterstaff's on a bridge (the actual title on the plaque below is straight and to the point). It was unveiled in 1988 and the sculptor was Graham Ibbeson.

According to legend Little John won the fight but still decided to join Robin's band of merry men, becoming his right-hand man. The battle was a long and bruising encounter, as can be seen in this clip from Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

Overall:- 7/10
 

Update:- I've found another photo of this statue on the internet with the two characters in colour. Not sure if it's the exact same statue or a replica in a different place, but either way here it is in all its glory...... 

*RUFFORD ABBEY, NOTTINGHAMSHIRE* - Oil Drilling Engineer

Had a midweek break to Sherwood Forest recently and went to visit Rufford Abbey which is a semi-derelict manor house set in a country park.

Whilst wandering round the large gardens I came across this statue of an engineer holding a massive wrench which seemed slightly out of place and had no information about it at all. I looked on all the websites about Rufford but found nothing and I was just about to give up when I decided to google 'rufford park statue of workman' as a last resort....

.... lo and behold I got directed to a blog which had specific details about the statue and its history - all the info here. The fact the statue was relocated to Rufford explains the lack of any plaque and looking at a picture of it in the original setting (right) at the Dukes Wood Museum, there obviously used to be some further details.

So it turns out that there was a secret WW2 oil field in the Midlands at a place called Eakring and this beefy workman was to commemorate all the gallons of oil which helped the war effort - more details (also from the blog yorkshireladsworld which I think deserves another mention as they did all the hard work for me) can be found here.

Overall:- 6.5/10

*RHODES* - unknown

This is the third and final statue from Rhodes and, without wanting to end on a down note, I can't unfortunately work out who this one is of.

The inscription below is just a bit too blurred to make out precisely and foolishly I didn't take a close-up photo (it was a hot day and I was suffering from sunstroke by this time). As can be seen its a half-length bust of an oldish bloke in full military regalia so is presumably an army general or a prime minister.

Hopefully I'll find out more information about him in due course - he was located along the same stretch of promenade as the previous two statues just up from the main Rhodes harbour.

Overall:- 6/10

*RHODES* - Alexandros Diakos (1907-1940)

This was another statue in Rhodes which after more Google translating I've finally identified as a Lieutenant in the Greek army who was one of the first to be killed in the Second World War.

Greece became involved in WW2 after Italy declared war in October 1940, the conflict going the way of Greece who advanced to occupy some of Albania, until Germany intervened 6 months later. Despite being less well-known than many conflicts in the war, this marked the first time that the Allies gained a land victory against the Axis forces and it not only tied up German forces who had to rescue the situation, but also proved good for morale across all of the Allies.

Diakos was killed on or around the 1st November and the statue conveys lots of national pride combined with strength and resistance. Apologies for the three pigeons which are slightly spoiling the effect and for the tourist thoughtlessly wandering across the shot (that said at least he gives the statue some scale).

Overall:- 6/10

*RHODES* - Stelios Kotiadis (1912-1971)

I saw this bust of a rather dour looking politician-type when I was on holiday in Rhodes. It was in some gardens near the ferry port and I assumed it was a Greek Prime Minister or similar and would be quite easy to identify, but despite loads of searching no one obvious came up.

Finally after using Google translate and copy and pasting each individual Greek letter from the inscription on the statue, I managed to come up with the name Stelios Kotiadis and after another search, also found this article from a Greek newspaper.

The translation is basic to say the least but the article is dated 2011 and begins with:- 'The unveiling of the bust of Stelios Kotiadis made forty years after his untimely and unexpected death.' This ties in with the dates 1912-1971 so I think we have found our man and it seems Stelios was an MP and Dodecanese Minister.

Can't find anything else about him so he can't have been much of a big shot and the bust itself is basic and not very inspiring to say the least (the weather was sunny though). Below is it's exact location taken from Google street-view.

Overall:- 3/10

*GREENWICH* - Walter Raleigh (1554-1618)

This statue of one of England's greatest explorers and adventurers (a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I and knighted by her in 1585) is at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich and features him in a typically swashbuckling pose.

That said you can maybe detect a hint of resentment, as up until 2001 the statue was proudly outside Whitehall in the centre of London, but it was downgraded to its present location to make room for a memorial to women who served in the war - more details here.

I guess art imitates life, as Raleigh himself fell out of favour after Elizabeth's death in 1603 and was eventually executed in 1618 to curry favour with the Spanish. The statue was sculpted by William McMillan in 1959 - above right is a photo of it in its original location.

Overall:- 6.5/10

*LONDON* - Imperial Camel Corps

This was another statue in the gardens by the Embankment in London - more info here.

The whole thing is quite small (approx. 1.8 metres) but very detailed and the camel really makes it stand out. It was unveiled on the 22nd July 1921 and lists the engagements which the Camel Corps took part in during WW1 and the men who were killed in action. This is Lawrence of Arabia territory, although I'm not sure if he served in the Corps himself, but I remember the battle scenes in the film, with Peter O'Toole charging the enemy on a camel.

The sculptor was Major Cecil Brown who was a member of the squadron - to the right is a close-up of the inscription on the other side of the plinth which the statue stands on.

Although its very early days in my statue blogging career, this one takes an early lead as my favourite so far (despite strictly speaking, being more of a memorial). There is further information on the UK Imperial War Museums website which goes into lots of specific detail.

Bearing in mind the Camel Corps statue is in the same gardens as the Arthur Sullivan one below, I won't repeat the Google map image. Instead here is the normal map version (rather than the satellite view), just to keep things exciting.

Overall:- 9/10

 

Update:- I paid another visit to these gardens in April 2015 to take some pictures of the other statues. It was a bright sunny day and the Camel Corps one was looking good, so I took an arty shot from a low angle which hopefully shows the soldier and his trusty camel in all their glory.

*LONDON* - Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900)

About ten years ago when I was living in London and had a Monday to Friday job, my weekends were often a barren wasteland with very little of interest to fill them. In a moment of semi-madness I decided I'd explore the whole of London and photograph all the statues and document them (I did this initially on Xcel which didn't really work). As luck would have it, within a few weeks of embarking on this epic voyage I got a job over on the Isle of Man and my adventure of wandering aimlessly around London streets mumbling to myself, come to a close.

Fortunately I still have some of the photographs that I took of statues back then and over the past few years I've taken some more on various holidays, so its now time they see the light of day in Bloggerland.

First up is this 1903 statue of Arthur Sullivan who was one half of the famous opera composers Gilbert & Sullivan (HMS Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, etc). There is only a bust of Sullivan himself, with a half-naked muse taking up most of the space (even back then the value of eye-candy was appreciated). The sculptor was William Goscombe John and more info on the piece can be found here on the London Remembers website.

The statue (along with numerous others) is located in London's Embankment Gardens.

Overall:- 8.5/10