Annette Burgoyne Posted 18 February , 2004 Share Posted 18 February , 2004 I am sad to see that vandals have broken the bayonet off the towns memorial for the third time in as many years. It had only been replace two months ago. I know where I'd like to stick that bayonet if they find the little or big s***s who did it, and while I'am at it bring back flogging. Annette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annette Burgoyne Posted 18 February , 2004 Author Share Posted 18 February , 2004 Sorry about the typo, it should read strike again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul guthrie Posted 18 February , 2004 Share Posted 18 February , 2004 I know where I'd like to stick that bayonet if they find the little or big s***s who did it Why Annette I'm shocked, I fear you mean up their precious little butts! I wish you luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Evans Posted 18 February , 2004 Share Posted 18 February , 2004 I know where I'd like to stick that bayonet if they find the little or big s***s who did it, Annette, Don't forget that I live just down the road from you if you need any help (although I suspect not). Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annette Burgoyne Posted 18 February , 2004 Author Share Posted 18 February , 2004 I fear you mean up their precious little butts Thats correct Paul, I do not know if you know the TV prog. Dads Army but as Cpl. Jones would say "They do not like it up them" Thanks for the offer of help Roy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Dixon Posted 18 February , 2004 Share Posted 18 February , 2004 yet another example of the society we live in...no matter how many times you hear the same story, it's still sad and sickening. You can guarantee that if someone were to come and vandalise their satellite dish, they'd be the first ones crying to the cops........*&^****'s! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Lynott Posted 18 February , 2004 Share Posted 18 February , 2004 Attached is a photograph of the memorial from about nine years ago, when yet again the bayonet had been broken off, what makes it even worse is that as you can see the yob would have to consider his approach and exert himself in climbing up the memorial and then snap off the bayonet, so it wasn't a spur of the moment bit of stupidity not that that would make it any better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annette Burgoyne Posted 19 February , 2004 Author Share Posted 19 February , 2004 Kevin am I going blind or did you forget to add the photo Annette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike10764 Posted 19 February , 2004 Share Posted 19 February , 2004 Lets hope the town replace it again, (and maybe sharpen the edge next time) Cue 3 fingered scally whinging on the news about the safety aspect. Spike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annette Burgoyne Posted 19 February , 2004 Author Share Posted 19 February , 2004 Spike it only cost £1,200 to fix it the last time If I could do magic, I would get the figure of the soldier to come to life every time some little or big morron came near by and yes you can all guess the rest Annette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Maier Posted 19 February , 2004 Share Posted 19 February , 2004 Given that these monuments are not so respected and safe as they used to be, why replace the bayonet in a breakable material? I don't know the construction of the memorial, so I can't offer a better solution at the moment, but there must be one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Lynott Posted 19 February , 2004 Share Posted 19 February , 2004 Annette, hopefully its attached now Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annette Burgoyne Posted 20 February , 2004 Author Share Posted 20 February , 2004 Thanks for posting the photo Kevin. I know one way they could be stopped getting up to the bayonet, and that is to set broken glass all around the figures feet. But I guess when the vandal cuts his/hers self, they would then claim damages and the soft judges we have in this country would side with the vandal and give them the money, never mind the fact that they were doing wrong in the first place I'll get of my soap box now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Maier Posted 20 February , 2004 Share Posted 20 February , 2004 That’s a fine figure, presumably cast bronze. The next bayonet could be steel, mounted on a long shank that goes deep into a hole bored in the rifle to support that also. Or it could be bronze, fitted on a spring-loaded joint that would simply swivel under load. Or it could be something near unbreakable like polycarbonate or GRP. Or it could be made of rubber or a synthetic elastomer. I don’t see an insuperable problem in making any of these ‘foreign’ materials resemble patinated bronze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike10764 Posted 20 February , 2004 Share Posted 20 February , 2004 Annette, I like the thought of the statue springing back to life and giving the little s***s the taste of a full blown Bayonet Charge Spike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottsGreys Posted 20 February , 2004 Share Posted 20 February , 2004 What is needed is for the authorities to have the good luck to catch the culprit(s) just once, and presuming they are convicted, then you need a judge who is willing to give them a harsh sentence. You need prosecutors and a judge who are willing to really make a example of them--cleaning graffiti, cleaning toilets in the public schools, or something similar in public (on top of jail time/fine/paying for restoration of bayonet). That would be true deterence. Of course, if things in the UK are like they are in the U.S., the culprit will probably get a lawyer and claim that he is a pacifist who was merely symbolicly demonstrating his opposition to war by breaking off the bayonet blade. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Maier Posted 21 February , 2004 Share Posted 21 February , 2004 Of course, if things in the UK are like they are in the U.S., the culprit will probably get a lawyer and claim that he is a pacifist who was merely symbolicly demonstrating his opposition to war by breaking off the bayonet blade. You may have a point there. There is a breakable portion of the statue in easier reach than the bayonet, so why is it always the bayonet that gets broken? The monument looks almost unclimbable to me. It can't be something done on the spur of the moment by idlers. I am interested in the figure. Does anyone know the sculptor? What should we read into the pose? Is he throwing a grenade, hailing the dawn of peace, returning to his family? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annette Burgoyne Posted 21 February , 2004 Author Share Posted 21 February , 2004 He is Is he throwing a grenade Clive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 21 February , 2004 Share Posted 21 February , 2004 I learnd today that the recently-stolen bayonet was made of fibreglass, and that they still have the mould, so this could reduce the cost of a replacement. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Maier Posted 21 February , 2004 Share Posted 21 February , 2004 If he is throwing a grenade, this is a profoundly warlike theme and it may be the reason the memorial comes under attack. Most, although certainly not all, figurative memorials settled for something suggestive of an end to hostilities. I thought the figure looked exceptional and I find that the sculptor was the noted Captain Adrian Jones, a Ludlow man. The picture shows his most famous work at Hyde Park Corner. Is it just me though, or is the right arm out of proportion on the Bridgnorth statue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottsGreys Posted 21 February , 2004 Share Posted 21 February , 2004 Is it just me though, or is the right arm out of proportion on the Bridgnorth statue? Clive, It looks to me like a depth-of-field abberation to me--the arm being much closer to the viewer than the body, possibly made more pronounced by the use of a wider-angled camera lens. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annette Burgoyne Posted 21 February , 2004 Author Share Posted 21 February , 2004 Clive thanks for link to Captain Adrian Jones. I did not know much, well anything about him. There used to be a great sculpture of a soldier on a horse in the old Ludlow Town Hall (some prat had the hall pulled down), I was told when I was small that it was a plaster modal of a bronze one that was somewhere else (sorry can't remember where), and that it was to do with Boer War, it may have been one of Captain Adrian Jones'. It looked as good as the sculptures shown in Clive's link. Quote "If he is throwing a grenade, this is a profoundly warlike theme and it may be the reason the memorial comes under attack. Most, although certainly not all, figurative memorials settled for something suggestive of an end to hostilities." Clive the Shropshire nature can be highly aggressive and war like at times, while being quite at others. I can never understand why I dislike the horror of war but tend to support our troops when they go to war and while a caring person myself can be highly aggressive on a hockey field ? I love charging at goalies and taking them out, they are fair game with all their padding. Quote "Is it just me though, or is the right arm out of proportion on the Bridgnorth statue?" It looks better from the front. Kevin do you have any photos of it from the front ? Annette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Maier Posted 22 February , 2004 Share Posted 22 February , 2004 ... It looks to me like a depth-of-field abberation to me--the arm being much closer to the viewer than the body, possibly made more pronounced by the use of a wider-angled camera lens. ... ... It looks better from the front. Kevin do you have any photos of it from the front ? ... Yes, it could well be a photographic distortion. But if the statue looks better from the front – and I take that to mean in real life – then the length of the right arm could be a deliberate distortion introduced by the sculptor. The idea is to counteract the apparent foreshortening experienced by a viewer looking up at the figure from reasonably close range. Adrian Jones apparently used this technique for his Quadriga on the Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner. The trouble is, it only really works well from a fixed viewpoint, and Bridgnorth is a walkaround monument that can be viewed from any angle. It seems odd that Jones should have made any adjustment in this case. I just wonder if the memorial has been moved from an original location with a pre-determined viewpoint? The test is to look at the figure from the front and the side. If it looks OK from the front and out of proportion from the side, it is artistic distortion. Something else seems strange. If you are throwing grenades, you are fighting at close quarters. Would you have your rifle and bayonet slung across your back or would you carry it in your other hand, ready for immediate use? I know nothing about fighting tactics but I imagine you would need to have the weapon in hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
widwick Posted 22 February , 2004 Share Posted 22 February , 2004 He's not throwing a grenade (no soldier would be that close to the enemy with a slung rifle) - and even if he was, it would be no excuse for the vandalism. He's stepping out with enthusiasm as so many did on the way to -. I would hazard a guess that the retard who broke off the bayonet thought it was either 'real' or that it would make a ' that's not a knife - this is a knife' (Crocodile Dundee) boast to his similar mindless and more likely than not, intoxicated friends. Barbed or razor wire could be added in an artistic way to compliment the memorial. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Lewis Posted 22 February , 2004 Share Posted 22 February , 2004 Pals In my humble opinion and I have seen the memorial many many times,the soldier depicted is throwing a grenade. I would also agree that is arm looking out of proportion,is a photographic distortion. Regards Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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