Tuesday 11 February 2014

Embankment Embellishments

On the Victoria Embankment in London I managed to extricate  my camera from my bag as these two passed, union jack hats embellishing their summer outfit, and of course that Barcelona football shirt. Is he a fan of the club or Lionel Messi (considered as one of the great players of all time) winner of FIFA World Player and Ballon d'Or.
 They were passing by the cast iron sphinx benches, originally installed in the 1870s to mark the opening of Cleopatra's Needle Obelisk and designed by Lewis and George Vulliamy, the latter who also designed the famous sturgeon lamposts which line the embankment, however I was distracted by colour
and the embellishment on one of the roadside lampposts.  I don't know if these were later riffs on Vulliamy's theme or originals. 
The newest sculpture on the embankment is a monument to "the few" of the Battle of Britain of 1940 it pictures the aircrew scrambling for aircraft take off.  Unveiled in 2005 for the 65th anniversary it also lists the 2,936 airmen and ground crew who took part in the defence of Britain from invasion.  Outnumbered 4 to 1 the odds were stacked against them but their courage and sacrifice meant that Hitler changed his invasion plan.

Time to turn from the riverside and head off 
through one of the gardens off the Thames Embankment. It was the embellishment of the sunflowers which attracted my attention and those tree/palm things.  The statue is to Henry Bartle Prere (colonial administrator) who in the film Zulu Dawn was played by the actor John Mills.  


11 comments:

Roger Owen Green said...

What nice shots, though the hats are a bit odd.
ROG, ABCW

Reader Wil said...

Lovely post. Thanks for the tour along the river.
Thanks also for the extra information about the replica of the Endeavour. I didn't know that it actually sailed from Australia to Whitby.
Have a nice week.
Wil, ABCW Team.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for a lovely tour of the Embankment!
Those crazy hat guys would fit right in here in So Cal, glad to see you have a share of them too!

Susan Moore said...

I want one of those hats! I enjoyed Embankment Embellishments :)

ellen b. said...

Such an interesting combination of clothing on those walkers...
Lionel Messi really is a master of his sport!

Anonymous said...

Great pics:) Wonder what they're going to do with the sunflowers at the foot of the sculptures (I don't know if they have sunflowers now that stay short?)

Carver said...

Beautiful shots along the embankment. It's starting to snow here so the sunflowers are an especial treat. Carver, ABC Wed. Team

Lisa said...

Oh my! I laughed at the embellishment of the embankment strollers! I think I'd like to spend a few hours people-watching on that bench!

Nonnie said...

thanks for the tour! The sculpture pictured here segued me to yesterday when two of my family and I saw the movie "Monuments Men." There seemed to be a ton of stories when just a few performed brilliantly during WWII.

Gerald (SK14) said...

I never really understood why Cleopatra had a needle on the embankment.

Snapperoni :: Photography said...

How nice. What beautiful embelllishments! :)