The Salter Statues - Dr Salter's Daydream

Dr Salter and his wife Ada dedicated their lives to the impoverished people of Bermondsey and Rotherhithe in the late 19th and early 20th century, improving living conditions (by clearing the slums) and healthcare. Tragically their only daughter, Joyce died aged 8 from scarlet fever, a disease common in the slums at that time. These statues show Dr Salter in his later years reflecting on happier times with his wife, daughter and cat.

I was walking to Rotherhithe station on my way to The London Hospital to bring Martha home when I noticed these beautiful bronze statues and an information board. Of course I had my camera with me.

Thank you so much all of you wonderful people for your thoughts, prayers and positive vibes during the last couple of days. It means a lot. Martha is home. She's tired, I guess from the anaesthetic, and she's very sore where incisions were made, the implant inserted and wires wrapped around nerves and a tube put down her throat but otherwise she's fine. She's tough!

[Ribel May]

Interesting, thanks for sharing

[Ribel May]

And I wish you'll have a lot of strength and positivity in this time

[Sue Cooper]

@ribelmay Thank you Ribel May. I appreciate your good wishes.

[Valerie Chesney]

Wonderful collage & story. So pleased Martha is home...xx

[Sylvia Binch]

A lovely collage of these statues.

[Dione Giorgio]

Beautiful and very interesting collage and story. The daughter could have caught the fever through him, pity, isn't it?

[Babs]

Really interesting statues and story. Glad Martha is home and recovering.

[Carole Sandford]

Great statues & history. It’s not so long ago that conditions were so poor!

[Mave]

Great statues. I have not heard of them but I did have a young relative who died of scarlet fever

[Rosie Kind]

I hope everything went well for your daughter and that the procedure is helping her. I am just catching up and saw this. Very interesting about Dr Salter who I am afraid to say I had not heard of. It just shows how little we learnt at school about the heroes of our country. A very interesting collage

[Bep]

Interesting story, Sue. Glad to read that Martha is home.

[Susie]

Lovely collage and story. Glad that Martha is home, wishing her well

[Merrelyn]

Thanks for sharing these lovely images and the story that goes with them. How long will it be until Martha knows if the procedure was successful?

[Anita Campbell]

These statues are fascinating. Nice collage.

[Pat Knowles]

So glad Martha is home & on the mend. Hope it's not long before they know if it's worked or not, fingers crossed! If not she hadn't lost anything by trying. Interesting story!

[Lis Lapthorn]

So pleased Martha is home and all seems to be going well. Yes, I’m sure she is a tough cookie, like you Sue.

[Michelle]

I've never noticed these before, are they new? I'm glad Martha's home and doing well 😊

[Helen]

Lovely set of photos & interesting narrative. Glad to read that Martha is home now

[Jane Morley]

Beautiful statues . I've only just seen this. I'm glad that your daughter is recovering well. Do hope she feels the benefit of her op soon. Sending love from Spain too.