Another shot from yesterday's trip to Birmingham. This bronze is one of four depicting the branches of the armed forces which surround the memorial; this one representing the Navy. Each statue is quite beautiful and youthfully strong. Perhaps, to remind us of the terrible toll that war takes claiming indescriminately the young of its day. Inside there were many wreaths of poppies for the regiments lost.
From Wikipedia -
The Hall of Memory in Centenary Square, Birmingham, England, designed by S.N. Cooke and W.N. Twist was erected 1922-5, by John Barnsley and Son, to commemorate the 12,320 Birmingham citizens who died in World War I.
Built directly over a filled-in canal basin of Gibson's Arm it was the first structure in an area (now occupied by Centenary Square and the International Convention Centre and Symphony Hall) purchased by the council for the creation of a grand civic scheme to include new council offices, mayor's residence, public library and concert hall. The scheme was abandoned after the arrival of World War II with only half of the planned Baskerville House having been built.
Made from Portland stone, from the Isle of Portland in Dorset, the foundation stone was laid by HRH The Prince of Wales 12 June 1923 and it was opened by Prince Arthur of Connaught on 4 July 1925 to a crowd of 30,000. Construction had cost £60,000 and was funded through public donations. The four statues around the exterior are by local artist Albert Toft. They represent the Army, Navy, Air Force and Women's Services.
@emer@dailypix@ksphoto@5unflow3r@5unflow3r@alecio@tford Thanks, inside there was also some quite beautiful stained glass in the wall and also in the octagonal ceiling, and on the entrance doors were two huge lion handles. I took a shot of those (the lions) and may post them also.
I love the strength and way they look you straight in the eye, like they have all this immense pride in their roles. I think this is a great angle for the shot.
@everydaylife365 Well, it's very much an industrial city, but it has some interesting areas to visit. If you like art and paintings, the art gallery has many Pre-Raphaelite originals which are defintely worth seeing.
March 14th, 2011
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