Today when I was perusing the Birmingham Mail,
I came across the most farcical story concerning the very famous (infamous?) fountain-statue,
in Victoria Square, downtown Birmingham. (The
square was formerly known as Council House Square, and had a tramway running
through it {funny, because when I hear the phrase ‘running through it,’ I
immediately think of ‘a river runs through it’}. It was renamed on 10 January 1901, in honour
of Queen Victoria, and a statue of
her was erected and unveiled. She died just 12 days later.) The thing
that really tickled me was that one day, several weeks back, when Leah and I
had been exploring that area – the time Martin had the car and had gone down to
London to work on his studies, and we had ridden downtown with the kids on the
bus – I had taken a wonderful photo (See below.) of Katya juxtaposed with that
very piece of sculpture.
In the late 20th century Victoria square was a
busy traffic junction. Plans were made to pedestrianize the area and to create
a public focal point. An international design competition was held for a
central water feature in the square, which was won by Dhruva Mistry. Construction
commenced in 1992 and was completed in 1994, when it was officially opened by Diana, Princess of Wales. During the redevelopment of the square, an
additional sculpture, Iron: Man, colloquially
referred to as The Iron Man (which unexpectedly leans 7.5° backwards and 5° to its left),
was installed in 1993. It is said by the sculptor to
represent the traditional skills of Birmingham and the Black Country, practiced during the Industrial Revolution. (Black
Country as an expression dates from the 1840s, and is believed to have gotten its
name from the black soot that covered the area, as a result of heavy industry. Located west of Birmingham it became one of
the most industrialized parts of Britain with coal mines, coking, iron foundries, and steel mills - true to
expectation by producing high
levels of air pollution, leading to copious instances of lung disease
and early death.) It was rumoured that the statue was hidden from the
Princess's view when she came to open the square.
(If you’d like to see more of
the captivating artwork that makes Birmingham SO great, please find your way
to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/theurbansnapper/sets/72157608058137304/detail/)
Now back to the article*, to quote: One of Birmingham’s most famous women – who
has flaunted her assets in Victoria Square for almost 20 years now – has
finally covered up. The much-loved beauty, irreverently known locally as the ‘Floozie
in the Jacuzzi,’ was fitted with a huge pink bra to mark the launch of a £1
million campaign to buy a mammogram trailer, vital to the early detection of
breast cancer. The two front panels are 2ft 6” triangles, while 30ft of ribbon
was used to make the straps. The giant garment was made for the Birmingham
Ladies Fighting Breast Cancer charity in just three days by accomplished seamstress,
Leigh Pipkin, of Bearwood (another neighborhood of BH). A VIP night, hosted by
Lord and Lady Digby Jones, patrons of the charity, will be held at Selfridges
(our Nordstroms) on Wednesday. Endquote.
Fun stuff, huh?! (Or is it only in the
deranged imagination of a bleedin’ anglophile?!)
[Just another unrelated bit of fascinating
information, also read in the Mail regarding Birmingham, this time it's concerning Birminghams's connection to the recently-released film production of War Horse. I see here that ‘War Horse’
first began life as a novel in 1982, then passed over to theatre, and lastly to
become the film we’ve all heard of. To quote:
The story began with a Birmingham boy – and now is coming home to the
city that started it all (coming as a live theatre performance to Birmingham’s
premier theatre, the Hippodrome, exactly a year from now – giving it just
enough time to make it’s rounds on the London stage before trickling down to
its rightful beginnings). War Horse recounts the emotional story of Joey, a
horse bought by the Army for service in the First World War, and the attempts
of previous owner, Albert, to find him and bring him safely home. This
remarkable tale began life in 1976 when a boy from Birmingham visited the
author’s Farms for City Children charity in Devon, giving inner city youngsters
the chance to live on a farm for a week. The boy, who had not spoken for years
due to a stammer, was found one night talking freely to one of the horses, who
appeared to be listening intently in return. Endquote. Fancy that - you just
never know what you’ll learn if ya pick up the news-paper . . .!]
Photos_
1- panoramic view of Victoria Square
2- the grand old Dame, as seen in her prime
3- beloved queen, Victoria Regina (reigned over
the commonwealth for 63+ long years {40 of them without her dearest Bertie –
over which she dressed in mourning for the reminder of her days), having born 9
children who married into, and royally populated, virtually every monarchy of
Europe)
4- later slanderously referred to by the ‘unadoring’ press as Mrs. Brown (it is a little known fact that a lock of John Brown's hair, along with a picture of him, were placed in her left hand, by her doctor and dressers, as per her request, concealed from the view of the family by a carefully positioned bunch of flowers. She was quite the romantic, that woman, that queen. Fancy that again! You just never know what you’ll learn if you tune into your local search engine . . .)
5- the controversial (because there arose the question if the resulting finish had truly been intentional, and also because of the gent’s ‘leanings’) ‘Iron: Man’
4- later slanderously referred to by the ‘unadoring’ press as Mrs. Brown (it is a little known fact that a lock of John Brown's hair, along with a picture of him, were placed in her left hand, by her doctor and dressers, as per her request, concealed from the view of the family by a carefully positioned bunch of flowers. She was quite the romantic, that woman, that queen. Fancy that again! You just never know what you’ll learn if you tune into your local search engine . . .)
5- the controversial (because there arose the question if the resulting finish had truly been intentional, and also because of the gent’s ‘leanings’) ‘Iron: Man’
6- statue of Victoria Square bathing beauty,
officially known in its entirety as ‘The River’ (referencing, as you well know,
the Rivers of Birminam), the source of all life
7- Katya as 'the Floozie’
8- ‘now this is a storm of a D cup . . .! ’
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