PBI Posted 22 August , 2006 Share Posted 22 August , 2006 Any Offers on this one..personally i think the Piper Statue at Longueval is high on my list..next nomination please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan_J Posted 22 August , 2006 Share Posted 22 August , 2006 The memorial to Captain Herbert Meakin on the road between Ginchy and Lesboeufs - or rather, well back off the road, in the middle of a field, very difficult to get to if the weather is bad and from a distance looking in a very sorry state. In 1991 the Middlebrooks wrote in Somme Battlefields that it would hopefully be restored soon - it hasn't been. But, I would hasten to add, this is difficultt; it is a private memorial, presumably erected by the family. Ninety years on, the family may not have the money, the inclination or the will to look after this memorial. The family as such may no longer exist! So I'd rather hope that at some point, someone does something about this memorial than just criticise. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 23 August , 2006 Share Posted 23 August , 2006 Any of the modern ones ! Hoping that the 2007 Scottish Memorial will be an exception due to the simplicity of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel Posted 23 August , 2006 Share Posted 23 August , 2006 I have to agree that the Pipers Memorial at Longueval is probably the worst effort I have seen anywhere. The curtain wall with the Regimental Badges is fine but the statue itself is dire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul guthrie Posted 23 August , 2006 Share Posted 23 August , 2006 Pipers is the worst I've seen but Australian one at Hamel would be bad if in good shape and is held together with chicken wire. They blame the French who built it but they say the told Ozzie designers it would not work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willywombat Posted 23 August , 2006 Share Posted 23 August , 2006 I didn't know the piper one existed until I saw this thread and just looked at some pictures of it on the web. I should think any pipers looking down are turning in their graves. Apparently it was made by someone called Andy De Comyn. Pity they couldn't find a real sculptor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIRKY Posted 23 August , 2006 Share Posted 23 August , 2006 Here is a view taken from the car, no matter which way you look at it, it is odd! Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Tulloch-Marshall Posted 24 August , 2006 Share Posted 24 August , 2006 Any Offers on this one..personally i think the Piper Statue at Longueval is high on my list..next nomination please. Every time I drive past that abysmal thing I try to look the other way. Personally I'm convinced its a p*** take. The "sculptor" certainly wants to keep himself out of bars in Sauchiehall Street, that's for certain. How on earth could anybody think that was attractive, or a tribute to the men it is meant to represent ? I have great admiration for people making the effort to commemorate the men who fought during WW1, but that "thing" is just beyond the pale. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Take on me Posted 24 August , 2006 Share Posted 24 August , 2006 I have seen the statue in Longueval a few times but never thought much of it. Could somebody please explain what is so awful about it? Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Robertson Posted 24 August , 2006 Share Posted 24 August , 2006 I have to agree with all the comments posted so far regarding the Piper at Longueval. I took my family to see it last month after viewing MacRae's Battalions memorial at Contalmaison and the comments from my 8 year old aren't for repeating. However, most of you have never seen the relatively new Wallace statue below the Wallace Memorial in Stirling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Robertson Posted 24 August , 2006 Share Posted 24 August , 2006 I have seen the statue in Longueval a few times but never thought much of it. Could somebody please explain what is so awful about it? Jon, For myself, I prefer my statues life-like and not abstract. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Take on me Posted 24 August , 2006 Share Posted 24 August , 2006 However, most of you have never seen the relatively new Wallace statue below the Wallace Memorial in Stirling. Everybody together now, ''THEY'LL NEVER TAKE OUR FREDOOOOOMMM'' Is it really a memorial to William Wallace or just to a really, really bad movie. Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Burns Posted 24 August , 2006 Share Posted 24 August , 2006 Derek, Is that Wallace statue an actual monument? The severed head at his foot is a classy touch, though. Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 24 August , 2006 Share Posted 24 August , 2006 I suppose one of the problems is...how do you portray, in statue form, a man in a skirt in a warlike attitude? Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob B Posted 24 August , 2006 Share Posted 24 August , 2006 Well thats Stirling bombed off the culture trail-an attempt by a local school would surely look beter than that Mel look alike. Some one needs to do the wheel necklace on it! Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul guthrie Posted 24 August , 2006 Share Posted 24 August , 2006 I really can't believe Sterling allowed that terrible statue! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Robertson Posted 24 August , 2006 Share Posted 24 August , 2006 Is that Wallace statue an actual monument? I'm afraid so..........it sits in the car park below the Wallace Monument. It makes the Longueval Piper look like a Da Vinci masterpiece IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PBI Posted 24 August , 2006 Author Share Posted 24 August , 2006 Cor,this is on a par with Longuval.They both look total C**P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 24 August , 2006 Share Posted 24 August , 2006 I agree with Derek - it looks truly awful. If that was 3 inches high and on sale in the local gift-shops, no-one would buy it. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Robertson Posted 24 August , 2006 Share Posted 24 August , 2006 If that was 3 inches high and on sale in the local gift-shops, no-one would buy it. Tom, It's life size so I guess you wouldn't want it either? ps I don't know or have any connection with any of the stunt artists featured in the attached pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Burns Posted 24 August , 2006 Share Posted 24 August , 2006 I really can't believe how bad it is on so many different levels. 'Braveheart' on his shield? The fact it looks like two different statues from waist up and waist down. Awful. Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Take on me Posted 24 August , 2006 Share Posted 24 August , 2006 I really can't believe how bad it is on so many different levels. 'Braveheart' on his shield? The fact it looks like two different statues from waist up and waist down. Awful. I couldn't agree more. Would anybody agree that Mr Gibson Wallace looks like he is paralysed by terror. I can see why they put it in a car park. Are you sure that it is not a joke? Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul & Susan Posted 25 August , 2006 Share Posted 25 August , 2006 I think the main problem with the Piper statue is that it is so blindingly white! Perhaps a patina of age will improve it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Tulloch-Marshall Posted 25 August , 2006 Share Posted 25 August , 2006 I have seen the statue in Longueval a few times but never thought much of it. Could somebody please explain what is so awful about it? Jon Do you mean what apart from the fact that the sculptor has seemingly created it without the benefit of ever having seen an example of a post Palaeolithic species of man ? - but then maybe it was modelled it on someone who lives (deleted for the sake of not starting WW3) which maybe explains the ten inch long fingers on a 5ft 4 inch tall "man" - and the head which looks like its meant to be off some new spooky race designed to scare kids in an episode of Doctor Who ............... and the whole lot looks about to fall over ........ and just what is the "Deaths Head" motif round the back of the sandbags all about ? Other than that, it just doesnt look right. If you want to see a proper statue go to Y Ravine. "Braveheart" at Stirling - saw it at Christmas a couple of years ago, in the snow. I have a recollection that then it was completely enclosed in a sort of steel cage, a bit like an old-fashioned but slightly more exposed than "usual" French Pissoir ............. which seemed very, very, appropriate. Thing is though - it's ideally placed because getting up the real Wallace Memorial takes a bit of effort so that lump of modern lavatorial junk in the car park is ideally placed to cater for the coach loads of tourists who dont know which country they are in that day, and in any case think that Wallace is the other half of Gromit, so a cartoon character is quite in order. Looking on the bright side though - maybe Stirling is just a temporary abode and they may be able to ofload it on the French (just a thought). Nb - quote - "I suppose one of the problems is...how do you portray, in statue form, a man in a skirt in a warlike attitude?" - ho ho - that's a new one then - but as Billy says - dont see any great rush up to Hampden then ! Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PBI Posted 25 August , 2006 Author Share Posted 25 August , 2006 No chance,it will always look like a lump of melted white Chocolate without any redeeming features.The sculptor (and i use the term loosely) should have gone to spexsavers.The whole design and execution is flawed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now