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Sunday 3 February 2013

Images And Words #196: STATUES

It's Week 196 of IMAGES And WORDS. This week our host is Sue, who has chosen the theme of STATUES.

I knew immediately which photo I would use for this theme. I took it on a visit to Cardiff Bay in 2009. It commemorates the ill-fated expedition made by Captain Robert Falcon Scott (still known affectionately in the UK as 'Scott Of The Antarctic') to the South Pole. After finding that Norwegian explorer Amundsen had beaten them to it, Scott and four of his team died on the return leg of exhaustion and extreme cold. The statue/sculpture's official name is  'The Antarctic 100 Memorial', and was designed and sculpted by Jonathan Williams. The information plaque on the statue reads:

"On the 15th June 1910, the British Antarctic Expedition led by Captain
Robert Falcon Scott, CVO RN made its Final departure from United
Kingdom Shores. This memorial overlooks the old outer lock gates
at Roath Basin, the point from which Scott's expedition ship the "Terra
Nova" sailed from Cardiff to the cheers of vast crowds of well wishers.
Prior to the departure, Scott had launched a national appeal for
funds and the money donated by the City of Cardiff and South Wales
exceeded that contributed by any other city in the UK. It was in
recognition of this generosity that Scott designated the city as the
home port of the "Terra Nova". She was to return to Cardiff three
years later to a nation in mourning for one of its heroes.
The expedition ended tragically and created one of the great legends
of the twentieth century. Scott's supreme achievement was that he
touched the imagination of his country as no other man had done
and possibly had done since. With his dying message, eloquently
told in his diaries and handwritten in desperate circumstances he
challenged whatever was finest in the British temperament.
"The causes of this disaster are not due to faulty organisation but to
misfortune in all risks that had to be undertaken….
Had we lived, I should have a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance
and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart
of every Englishman.
These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale"….."



Scott Memorial

26 comments:

  1. That is a fabulous statue. Great quote by the man himself.

    My entry

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  2. every entry I have seen thus far for this week's theme...makes mine look sillier and sillier....LOL

    All of you chose a piece of history and the statues and history posted with each are incredible!! ( thanks for visiting & commenting on mine, Mitch )

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    1. Hi Linda. Thanks for commenting :-)) There was nothing wrong with your entry, that's the good thing about I&W....the variety of entries. Wouldn't it soon get boring if we all posted the same things?

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  3. This is a great statue and the history is so interesting to go along with it.
    What is it made of?
    He looks like a real hero..I could see a Movie of this being made.
    I will see you on PT...

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    1. Thanks Sue. All I know for sure is that it's surface is a broken-tile mosaic.

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  4. Those men braved the elements
    Good that they are remembered.

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    1. It is indeed :-)) Thanks for commenting, Lynda.

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  5. Mitch, thanks for sharing the interesting history that once it is read makes me look at the awesome shot of the statue with eyes of admiration...

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  6. You know Mitch. I have never seen this before and must say I am stoked to see it now. What gets to me is when I see with my tired eyes people making jokes about him. Makes my blood boil.

    Fantastic photo.

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    1. Thanks Shayna. I don't think I've actually seen or heard any jokes about Scott, thankfully.

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  7. Thank you for the help on the wording for the link will do it --I appreciate it thanks

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    1. Hi Heidi. I actually meant I had put the wrong wording on MY link. I put PP instead of I&W !! LOL.

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  8. Interesting statue. I remember seeing his clothing in a museum from the expedition which had been found (was it the science museum? cannot remember). In any case when you saw the condition it was in it really brought home to you what those men must have suffered. I was always fascinated to know that Peter Scott was actually his son. There was a likeness.

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    1. Thanks Pat. I seem to remember seeing that clothing in a museum on a trip to London, many years ago, but I can't remember which one either. Yes, Peter Scott was his son, also a hero in his way, in his conservation efforts.

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  9. I love the lighting in this shot. Very unique looking statue, I like the mosaics.

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  10. What a unique structured statue!

    My: I & W Statue

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  11. That's really interesting, MItch. If you ever pass this way, we have an Oates Museum near here. I took part this week

    http://nomadtravellingman.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/statues.html

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    1. Thanks Neil. That's interesting to know, I'll keep it in mind.

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  12. Fantastic my friend a perfect take on the theme;)
    Images and Words

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  13. I've not seen that one before, thanks Mitch. Scots ship Discovery is berthed in Dundee next to the visitor center, I’ve been round them a few times. The story of his last expedition really is quite sad. I think this is a very fitting tribute to one of this countries great explorers.

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    1. Thanks Loretta. I'd love to see 'Discovery' sometime.

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