The DC5 No.1: #London Statues

NEW FOR 2016! DC Editor Adam writes…


In December 2015 The Daily Constitutional posted its 4,000th post.

Throughout 2016, I'll be pointing you back into our archive, to look at a few posts that may not have seen the light of day for a while but which I'm sure will remain of great interest to London Walkers and Daily Constitutionalists everywhere.

They'll be arranged by theme, there will be five in each post and they'll be posted on the fifth of each month at 5pm.

Welcome to The DC5.


The DC5 No.1: London Statues

1. Culture Sandwich – Robert Burns in Embankment Gardens

First posted October 2010

By Karen Pierce-Goulding

If you didn’t think it possible for a statue to posses the qualities of sexual magnetism and charisma, go and visit Robert Burns in Embankment Gardens. The “second greatest writer ever produced by the British Isles” (as my husband – a Scot, quelle surprise – makes me write) his vivid bronze memorial is the work of Sir John Steele and dates from 1884.

Full post here: londonwalkblog.blogspot.co.uk/burns

2. Is This London Statue Paying Tribute To Usain Bolt?

First posted July 2012

By Adam Scott-Goulding

Full post here: londonwalkblog.blogspot.co.uk/bolt

3. It's Only A Statue… Isn't It?

First posted July 2013

By David Tucker 

Alan Brooke was a delicate and introverted child.

He spoke French and German before he spoke English.

He couldn't have been more of an Ulsterman. Churchill called him "that stiff-necked Ulsterman."

Ulster - Protestant ascendancy - to the core. Generation  upon generation of Brookes - soldiering in their blood -  going back centuries, to the reign of Gloriana, Elizabeth I. 26 Brookes of Colebrooke fought in World War I. 27 in World War II. 12 of those Brookes were killed in those two wars.

And yet the personal - always the personal. Counterpoint to the service to country ideal. His first wife was killed in a car accident. Alan Brooke was at the steering wheel. His daughter was killed in a riding accident in 1961, two years before her father died.

He was an expert ornithologist.

Birdsong. Point counterpoint. The roar of artillery.

Full post here: londonwalkblog.blogspot.co.uk/brook

4. Political Trumps Card Game – FDR

First posted March 2014

By Adam Scott-Goulding

FDR's statue in Grosvenor Square is a rare depiction of the President standing – albeit with a cane – and can be found near the US Embassy. A fascinating little list at the US Embassy's website details FDR's official visits to Britain – most of them to former colonies, many of those on "fishing trips"!

Full post here: londonwalkblog.blogspot.co.uk/FDR

5. Who Deserves a Statue in Parliament Square?

First posted March 2014

By Kim Dewdney

Full post here: londonwalkblog.blogspot.co.uk/parliamentsquare

Next month on the 5th February… London Sport

On Tuesdays our blog posts support the charity Missing People

Thousands of people in the UK are searching for a missing loved one. Missing People is a lifeline when someone disappears.

 Support Missing People at www.missingpeople.org.uk    

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