ANIMAL STATUES IN LONDON 4

 Animal Statues in London 4

Highams Park

      This stainless steel sculpture by Barnaby Barford marks the place where British Xylonite's Halex factory stood between 1897 and 1971. For most of that time, having invented celluloid, Halex had pretty much a worldwide monopoly on the manufacture of table tennis balls. 

         The 40mm holes in the sculpture are the exact diameter of a table tennis ball.

     ..... at the 2016 Highams Park Festival people were invited to create a 'wishing wall' by writing a single word on table tennis balls expressing the thing they wanted the most.
 
     Wood sculptor Marshall Lambert created the Highams Park trail of animal sculptures.


     The owl mural (2016) was painted by Jane Mutiny who specialises in conservation and wildlife art.



      This sculpture (from two angles) can be found in The Highams Park, close to Humphrey's Cafe.

Goodman's Fields Piazza
  
     Six different breeds of horses were created in bronze by Hamish Mackie in 2015. They look better when the fountains are on.

Middlesex Street
          
    Easily missed is Rebellion, a 5 metre-high bronze horse by Judy Boyt. Twice life-size, it was commissioned by Standard Life and sits high above East India House, looking down on Petticoat Lane Market. You can't miss the lions directly below .....

Broadgate Circle
Leaping Hare on Crescent Bell (2008) by Barry Flanagan.

Elthorne Park

Sewardstone
     This bronze bull can be found in Gillwell Park, the main site of the Scout Association. The statue was donated by the Boy Scouts of America who were founded by Chicago-based publisher William R Boyce after a young boy scout came to his aid when he got lost on a London trip, refusing to accept a tip. 
     It was unveiled in 1926 at a ceremony attended by (left to right) Boy Scouts founder Robert Baden-Powell, US Ambassador Amory Houghton and HRH Edward Prince of Wales .....
     Also at Gillwell Park ....
     Boy With Puma was presented to Baden-Powell in 1929 to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the Scout movement in Chile.
    The nice weather vane depicts the notorious highwayman Dick Turpin who, astride his faithful steed Black Bess, operated in these parts in the 1730s.
    Bonus trivia: Despite being a countryside hamlet situated almost 12 miles from central London and nowhere near E3 or E5,  Sewardstone has the London postcode of E4. 

Hornchurch
     There appears to be no good reason why this bull's head can be found on St Andrew's Church. Maybe some Church of England wags thought it would be a giggle to have horns on a church in Hornchurch.
     The original horns, made of copper, were stolen in 1999. They were never recovered and replaced in 2001.
Penge
     This striking lion statue has stood in the Moon & Stars Wetherspoons in Penge since it opened in 1994. It is all that remains of a Wizard of Oz theme that referenced the art deco Odeon cinema which stood on this site from 1937 to 1976.

Tottenham

     Somehow the gold cockerel statue outside White Hart Lane stadium doesn't look as good as the iconic Spurs emblem.
     Nearby is a huge mural of Harry Kane, surprisingly devoid of derisive comments from rival  fans .....
       The handprints of the Kane family can be seen next to Harry's right arm. It is quite a good likeness - something which can't be said about the statue of the England captain at Chingford's Peter May Sports Centre, the home of his boyhood club Ridgeway Rovers .....

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