*LONDON* - Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

Inscription:- can be read here.
Sculptor:- Ian Walters - made from bronze.
Unveiled:- 28th October, 1985 by Oliver Tambo, president of the ANC.
Notes:- commissioned by Ken Livingstone when he was leader of the GLC; re-erected in 1988 on a higher plinth, after the original fibreglass version was destroyed by fire in a racist-fuelled attack; erected when Mandela was in prison and still considered a terrorist by many (Margaret Thatcher replied 'No' when asked in the House of Commons if she planned to visit the sculpture); there is a rather nifty animated 3D picture of the bust here.

Overall:- 6.5/10

*LIVERPOOL* - Sir John & Cecil Moores

Inscription:- "Freeman Sir John Moores, Founder, & Mr Cecil Moores, Director, of the Littlewoods Organisation"
Sculptor:- Tom Murphy - made from bronze.
Unveiled:- 1996, by the sons of the brothers (details here).
Notes:- looking at the photo of the unveiling on the link above, the statue was originally on a pedestal, but after being moved to make way for some regeneration work, the two figures are now at street level, with a silver band around them which bears the inscription on it.

Overall:- 6/10

*CHESTER* - Janya the Elephant

Inscription:- full inscription can be found on the Waymarking website here.
Sculptor:- Annette Yarrow - made from bronze; 3.3ft tall.
Unveiled:- March 2010.
Notes:- a gift from Chester Zoo; the name Janya (which means 'life in Hindu) was chosen by the people of the city.

The statue is incredibly lifelike and from a distance you might easily believe a baby Indian elephant was roaming the streets Jumanji style.

Overall:- 8.5/10

*DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN* - Sir Hall Caine (1853-1931)

Inscription:- "Sir Hall Caine C.H., K.B.E., M.H.K., Freeman of Douglas Manx Author 1853 ~ 1931"
Sculptor:- Bryan Kneale.
Unveiled:- TBC.
Notes:- bronze; paid for by money from the estate of his son, actor and MP Derwent Hall Caine; located in Summerhill Gardens at the northern end of Douglas promenade.

Overall:- 6.5/10

*WEYMOUTH* - George III (1738-1820)

Inscription:- "The grateful inhabitants to GEORGE THE THIRD on his entering the 50th year of his REIGN."
Sculptor:- designed by the architect James Hamilton, although the work itself probably carried out by one Mr Sealy who worked for the company Coade and Sealy.
Unveiled:- 1810 (foundation stone laid 1809).
Notes:- Grade I Listed monument; it looks extra shiny/garish as it was given a big makeover in 2008; important enough to have its own Wikipedia page.

Either side of the massive piece of stone which the statue is on, are a unicorn and a lion which both look resplendent and add even more to the garish tone.

Overall:- 6.5/10

*WEYMOUTH* - Queen Victoria (1819-1901)

Inscription:- "This memorial erected by public subscription was unveiled by H.R.H. Princess Beatrice (Princess Henry of Battenberg)  October 20th 1902. John Bragg - Mayor. Richard Nicholas Howard - Town Clerk."
Sculptor:- most websites don't mention the sculptor, but seems to be attributed to George Blackall Simonds (1843-1929); made from bronze.
Unveiled:- 1902.
Notes:- Grade II Listed monument; St John's Church is in the background.

Overall:- 7.5/10

*WEYMOUTH* - Sir Henry Edwards (1820-1897)

Had a couple of days in Weymouth which was a fantastic place - one of the best seaside resorts in Britain I've been to. The town is steeped in history so there were quite a few statues dotted around, including this one, which was rather inconveniently placed in the middle of the road (below is a more panoramic view which I found online).

Inscription:- "Erected by public subscription AD 1885 to perpetuate the memory of the public services, munificent charity and private worth of Sir Henry Edwards M.P. one of the representatives of Weymouth & Melcombe-Regis in the House of Commons from 1867 to 1885, when the town ceased to be a parliamentary borough."
Sculptor:- unknown; made from white marble.
Unveiled:- 13th January 1886.
Notes:- situated in Alexandra Gardens on the seafront, the statue was erected during the subject's lifetime.

Overall:- 7/10

*DORCHESTER* - The Dorset Shepherd

Inscription:- "This sculpture, The Dorset Shepherd, is a tribute to the quiet heroism and wisdom of pastoralists and cultivators who provide inspiration for the literary tradition associated with Dorchester. It was commissioned to mark the year 2000 by Henry Ling Limited, printers in Dorchester since 1804."
Sculptor:- John Doubleday - made from bronze.
Unveiled:- 2000.
Notes:- Inspired by the poem 'The Shepherd O' the Farm' by William Barnes.

Overall:- 6/10

*DORCHESTER* - Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

It's fair to say that Thomas Hardy is widely considered to be one of England's greatest authors and bearing in mind he lived in (or around) Dorchester for the first 22 years of his life, not surprisingly he features prominently on any visit to the town. That said this very grand statue of him is rather surprisingly located away from the main centre, overlooking a busy roundabout at the top of the High St and is probably missed by quite a few visitors. Apparently there has been talk of possibly relocating it, but to be fair I think statues are best left where they were originally placed.

The sculptor was Eric Kennington and it was unveiled on the 2nd September 1931 by author J.M. Barrie (he of Peter Pan fame) - further information, including a video of the unveiling itself, can be found here.

I remember reading a couple of Hardy's novels when I did English 'A' level - Tess of the d'Urbervilles which was good, but also Return of the Native which was impossible to understand for a spotty 17-year old. A few years ago I also read Under the Greenwood Tree which was OK, but didn't change my opinion that Hardy is a bit over-rated.

Back to the statue, which is impressive in a stately kind of way, mainly because of the large pedestal. It's not exactly a dynamic piece of work, but certainly conveys the reverence in which Hardy is held in the local area.

Overall:- 7.5/10

*DORCHESTER* - William Barnes (1801-1886)

This sombre looking chap was a curate and rector in the Church before he started writing poetry in the latter part of his life, for which he became well known (mainly because most of it was in the old Dorset dialect).

His poems centred around the joys of country life and I imagine even in the 19th century, he was something of a relic from the past - further info on Wikipedia.

In fairness he must have made quite an impact on local life, as this statue came just 3 years after his death. It is made from bronze and the sculptor was Roscoe Mullins (a great photo of the unveiling on the 4th February, 1889 is below).

His best known work is Linden Lea which was set to music by Vaughan Williams and despite gushing with sentimentality, certainly stirs up feelings of England's green and pleasant land - you can listen to it with lyrics on Youtube here.

The inscription has some lines from one of his poems on it and this is a fine, if rather stoic, statue. Quite a lot of information about the sculptor can be found here.

Overall:- 7/10

*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

*LIVERPOOL* - Alexander Balfour (1824-1886)

Also in St John's Gardens is this statue of another public benefactor from the 19th century, who used some of his hard-earned cash to help those less fortunate than himself (some kind of early tax dodge no doubt).

Alexander Balfour was a Scottish businessman who moved to Liverpool when he was aged 20 and formed a shipping company a few years later. The carving on the base of the statue reads:-

"Merchant and shipowner

Born 2nd September 1824. Died 16th April 1886

His life was devoted to God in noble and munificent efforts for the benefit of sailors, the education of the people and the promotion of all good works. This statue, erected by public subscription, was unveiled on the 15th day of November 1889."

The sculptor was Albert Bruce-Joy and more information on it can be found here - not sure how accurate this page is though, as it gives the date 1905 for the statue, but the inscription says 1889 (unless my eyes deceive me - the photo is a bit blurry).

Overall:- 6.5/10