*POOLE* - Robert Baden-Powell (1857-1941)

I'm quite a fan of these statues where the subject is in a more natural setting so that people can get up close and personal, so to speak. This one of Robert Baden-Powell (British soldier who founded the Scouts) is right on the promenade in Poole. The town has close connections with the Scouts, as it was on Brownsea Island in Poole harbour that Baden-Powell set up the first Boy Scouts camp in 1907 to test his theories and ideas for the movement as a whole.

Information on the plaque tells us that the sculptor was David Annand and the statue was unveiled on the 13th August 2008 by James Gibson Fleming, the Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset. According to some further information here, it took 10 months to complete, weighs 200kg and cost £35,000.

Overall:- 8/10

*BOURNEMOUTH* - Lewis Tregonwell (1758-1832) & C.C. Creeke (1820-1886)

I found this statue, carved from stone, whilst walking through the drab town centre of Bournemouth. Its of Captain Lewis Tregonwell who is credited with founding the town in 1810, before which it was just a deserted section of coast, popular with smugglers.

There is detailed info about the statue here on the waymarking.com website, which mentions that it 'features the three local holders of the Victoria Cross'. Looking closely at the roll of parchment that Tregonwell is holding, there appears to be three names, which must be the medal winners in question. The sculptor was Jonathan Sells (who is local to the area and has his own website) and it was unveiled in the late 1990's.

When I saw the statue the inscription only showed the above, but on the waymarking site there is a picture showing much more information so it looks like the statue is being slowly buried (not very respectful to the town's founder!) - the full inscription is here.

Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that there is another chap mentioned on the plaque, namely a C.C. Creeke who was Bournemouth's first town surveyor. If you look round the other side of the statue, there is another figure moulded onto Tregonwell's back in a slightly weird sci-fi hybrid fashion. This definitely makes the entire work a bit bizarre to me and whatever the reasoning for constructing it in this fashion, it doesn't work.

You don't find many sculptures made from stone these days, so its a pity that this one just comes across as too cobbled together - Creeke didn't even arrive in Bournemouth until nearly 20 years after Tregonwell died, so having them joined so closely has no historical relevance either.

Overall: 4.5/10

*CHICHESTER* - St. Richard (1197-1253)

On a recent trip to the south coast I visited Chichester on a rather grey Sunday morning and came across this statue of St Richard in the grounds of the cathedral.

The sculptor is Philip Jackson who has done quite a lot of the more recent public statues in the UK - a full list of his stuff can be found on his website. This one was unveiled in 2000 as part of the Millennium celebrations - below is a photo of the slab on the ground in front of the statue which gives the details.

The statue is imposing enough, but it reminds me a bit too much of Max Schreck in the early German film Nosferatu, and I'd be very wary of his saintly charms if he looked like this.

There is also an inscription on the pedestal (below), which emphasises the religious aspects with lots of humble thanks being given as usual (one of the many things which puts me off religion).

 Overall:- 6/10

Update:- I had another day trip to Chichester in August 2015, hoping there would be some more statues in such an historic city. Unfortunately after wandering down every side street all afternoon I didn't find any, so I had to make do with another shot of St Richard which shows the cathedral setting a bit better.

*LIVERPOOL* - Queen Victoria (1819-1901)

This was an impressive statue of a young-looking Queen Victoria in front of St George's Hall in Liverpool (just round from the gardens where the previous two entries were). The inscription on the plinth (below) states, "Erected by the Corporation of Liverpool in the thirty-fourth year of her reign."

She came to the throne in 1837 and the statue was unveiled in 1870 (some sources give a date of 1869 which was presumably the completion) - more details here. The man behind the work was Thomas Thornycroft, who had done a similar work for the Great Exhibition some years earlier.

At a guess there must be more statues of Queen Victoria than anyone else - definitely in the UK, but probably in the world bearing in mind she reigned throughout the glory years of the British Empire. The sheer size of this piece has impact but otherwise it is a touch ordinary (dare I say bland) but at least it has a more sprightly image of Victoria, rather than the dour seated image we are more used to.

Overall:- 7/10