Weymouth: Queen Victoria jubilee bust

Most visitors to the seaside town of Weymouth are there for the sun and the sandy beach and the various forms of holiday entertainment. 

Not me. I go primarily for the wildlife (birds, butterflies, dragonflies, etc., depending on the season) but I also enjoy walking around the older streets near the harbour, admiring the town's architectural and historical features. 

This is one I spotted during my most recent visit: a bust of Queen Victoria, attached to the front facade of the Fairhaven Hotel to celebrate her golden jubilee in 1887. 

It seems the 1897 date was added a decade later, when Queen Victoria celebrated her diamond jubilee.

Nowadays, the Fairhaven Hotel is an amalgamation of five separate properties that were probably all constructed in the 19th century. 

According to the Historic England website, the part of the Fairhaven to which the bust is attached, the Grade II listed building at 41 – 43 The Esplanade, was originally two separate mid-19th-century houses, 'possibly encasing late C18 work', with the addresses 7 and 8 Augusta Place. 

At some point these houses were amalgamated to become the Victoria Hotel, and the building has subsequently been The New Vic Bar and Restaurant, as well as forming part of the complex of buildings that made up the Fairhaven Hotel.

As you can perhaps tell from my photo of the building, it is not currently in use, and looks to be in a state of some disrepair. 

Looking at listings on the Savills property website, for a guide price of £25,000 per annum, you could rent, or possibly even purchase, this 'bar/restaurant situated in prime Weymouth seafront location with panoramic sea views'. The colourful bust of Queen Victoria would be an added bonus!

Cardiff Bay: Panorama Stone

When I first photographed the Panorama Stone, it wasn't where it is now. Thirty years after it was installed in 1993, this artwork was relocated to make way for a much larger sculpture depicting three black Cardiff men, who originally played amateur rugby union in Wales but made the move to play professional rugby league for English clubs. (That sculpture will feature in a forthcoming blog post.)
 

The Panorama Stone wasn't moved very far though; it is in Cardiff Bay's Landsea Square, just around the corner from its initial location. The stone was one of the many public artworks commissioned by the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation around the time the Barrage was being completed and the Bay was being redeveloped as a 'tourist destination', and was designed to show those locations around the world that had strong associations with the Bay, with Cardiff and with Wales. The sculptor was Leonard 'Jonah' Jones (1919 – 2004), known not only for his sculptural works in slate, stone and bronze but also for his calligraphy, painting, and work in art education.

Birds: 3 Assembly Square

 If you were to google "3 Assembly Square", you would learn that it's 'a prime waterfront office development extending to a total of 65,765 sq ft over ground and five upper floors, with undercroft car parking for 70 cars'. It's one of those glass-and-steel office constructions that can be seen in any large city anywhere in the western world but, in my biased eyes, it has one redeeming feature.

At the entrance to the building stands a large plinth that supports a tiny sculpture of two anonymous (are they gulls, perhaps?) rusty looking metallic birds. I've not been able to uncover anything about the birds but they are an inspired addition to an otherwise very ordinary edifice.