I love Trafalgar Square. Aside from my home in Wimbledon it's probably my most-visited place in London, having been there several times on my first visit to the UK and somehow finding myself there regularly this year.
The Square is surrounded by the Houses of Parliament; St. James' Park leading up to Buckingham Palace; West End; Piccadilly Circus; and -among other things- several major stations such as Charing Cross and Embankment. So it has a tendency to be on your route to wherever you happen to be going.
While there's a lot of things to look at in Trafalgar Square - such as the giant lion statues; Lord Nelson's Column; the various buskers and colourful performers in front of the National Gallery or the ever-present and endless flow of tourists passing through - it's the four plinths found at each corner of the Square that have most-recently piqued my interest.
Three of the four are pretty standard - you know, big bronze statue of an old lord, king or military leader or something of that sort. On the north-east plinth is George IV on a horse; atop the south-east stands Sir Henry Havelock and on the south-west plinth is Sir Charles James Napier.
The Fourth Plinth is the one that caught my attention however. I think this is primarily due to the fact that, at this point in time, standing in all it's technicolor glory, is this:
The Square is surrounded by the Houses of Parliament; St. James' Park leading up to Buckingham Palace; West End; Piccadilly Circus; and -among other things- several major stations such as Charing Cross and Embankment. So it has a tendency to be on your route to wherever you happen to be going.
While there's a lot of things to look at in Trafalgar Square - such as the giant lion statues; Lord Nelson's Column; the various buskers and colourful performers in front of the National Gallery or the ever-present and endless flow of tourists passing through - it's the four plinths found at each corner of the Square that have most-recently piqued my interest.
Three of the four are pretty standard - you know, big bronze statue of an old lord, king or military leader or something of that sort. On the north-east plinth is George IV on a horse; atop the south-east stands Sir Henry Havelock and on the south-west plinth is Sir Charles James Napier.
The Fourth Plinth is the one that caught my attention however. I think this is primarily due to the fact that, at this point in time, standing in all it's technicolor glory, is this:
The Fourth Plinth remained empty from Trafalgar Square's opening in 1844 until 1999, when three temporary artworks were commissioned to occupy the space one after the other. This was a well-received idea so it was decided to keep using the plinth for temporary artworks. The current one is titled Hahn/cock and - as you can see- it's a giant blue rooster. On our first trip through London there was a child on a rocking horse atop the plinth. I have no photos or recollection of him, probably because it wasn't a giant blue rooster.
The piece prior to the kid on the rocking horse was a model of Lord Nelson's HMS Victory in a giant glass bottle. We happened to stumble across this a few weeks ago at its new home at the National Maritime Museum.
The piece prior to the kid on the rocking horse was a model of Lord Nelson's HMS Victory in a giant glass bottle. We happened to stumble across this a few weeks ago at its new home at the National Maritime Museum.
The new art work will be put up sometime in 2015, though I think it'll be a shame to see the giant blue rooster go.
Thanks for reading, like and comment below.
Much love.
Thanks for reading, like and comment below.
Much love.