Neptune, Durham City
WEDNESDAY 30 JANUARY
THE STATUE
At the risk of boring you to tears by grinding this particular axe once again.......I really have had a proverbial bee in my bonnet about the statue of Lord Londonderry that befouls and besmirches the Market Place in Durham City for some years now. When I was in my teens and going to school in Durham, I naturally spent a lot of time there - and often went back on Saturdays too, to visit my schoolmates. Like many local people, I became besotted with Durham's combination of grandeur and intimacy and by the time I left home at 18 I think I knew the city as well as anyone of my tender years. This means that I have carried my hatred of Lord Londonderry’s monument around with me for over 40 years!
But why? I guess I should firstly define my terms here. The sculpture in question (pictured on yesterday’s blog-posting) is a perfectly acceptable - though by no means outstanding - example of the Victorian sculptor’s art. It is competently designed and reasonably well-made. As a work of art, that is one of its main problems as far as I am concerned. It is just too ‘ordinary’ to grace the municipal centre of a unique city. It also too big for such an intimate space.
But it is not because of its artistic merits (or demerits) that I would rather see it at the bottom of some forgotten cesspit. It is the man who is commemorated that offends me so much. Lord Londonderry was a grasping and avaricious coal-owner of the very worst kind - in an area where grasping and avaricious coal-owners were the norm. He treated his miners much worse than he treated his cattle - much worse. Stories of his pompous, cruel and callous disregard for his pitmen’s lives, and thus the lives of their families, are legion. Even after several explosions at his collieries, he refused to sanction the use of safety-lamps because they were too ‘expensive’ - and this over 50 years after they had been introduced elsewhere. He spoke against their use in the Lords and even resisted their introduction after they became compulsory. His miners were still taking candles underground in the 1860s.
Lady Londonderry was even worse, in her own way. To her, miners were bestial savages to be displayed to her London visitors. She insisted, when she drove her visitors through the streets of Seaham, that her husband’s workers - unwashed and black with coal - should line the streets and applaud her as she passed by.
Even by the standards of the time, the Londonderrys were a grotesque and much-criticised parody of capitalism - even fascism - and I have never understood why they should be honoured with any memorial at all, let alone an oversized and grandiose statue like the one in Durham City. Their true monuments are the graves of the pitmen who died in their collieries - almost always as a direct result of the Londonderrys’ reactionary greed and almost unbelievable disregard for humanity. There are many sources of evidence for the legendary cruelty of this monstrous couple; if you can, get your hands on a copy of Troubled Seams by John McCutcheon. I promise, you’ll never be able to look at the Londonderry statue again.
Naturally, these are not the reasons that Durham City Council is considering the removal of the two Market Place monuments. Personally, I would much prefer Neptune to stay exactly where he is. After all, he is a historically important and interesting figure who stood in the Market Place from the late 18th century to mark a drinking pant and to commemorate a bold scheme to canalise the River Wear from Sunderland to Durham - a scheme which came to nothing (as it happens). I reckon he is a harmless talking point and focus for the square.
If the Council decides that Lord Londonderry’s statue should stay, then perhaps the plaque on the plinth could - at the very least - be replaced with a more honest and much less deferential inscription.......
’a man who, with his execrable wife, and by the decisions he made and the actions he took (or did not take), caused the deaths and/or serious injuries of many hundreds of miners over many years.....’
CONTACT ME
Post comments on this blog or contact me in any one (or more) of these ways....
ian.robinson@bbc.co.uk
ianstuartrobinson@googlemail.com
text 07786 200954 (while the programme is on-air)
call (between about 0545 and 0630 Monday to Friday) 0191 232 6565
Ian Robinson, The Nightshift, BBC Radio Newcastle, Spital Tongues, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE99 1RN
NOTE
Please bear in mind that the views expressed in this blog are my own and NOT the views of the BBC.
THE STATUE
At the risk of boring you to tears by grinding this particular axe once again.......I really have had a proverbial bee in my bonnet about the statue of Lord Londonderry that befouls and besmirches the Market Place in Durham City for some years now. When I was in my teens and going to school in Durham, I naturally spent a lot of time there - and often went back on Saturdays too, to visit my schoolmates. Like many local people, I became besotted with Durham's combination of grandeur and intimacy and by the time I left home at 18 I think I knew the city as well as anyone of my tender years. This means that I have carried my hatred of Lord Londonderry’s monument around with me for over 40 years!
But why? I guess I should firstly define my terms here. The sculpture in question (pictured on yesterday’s blog-posting) is a perfectly acceptable - though by no means outstanding - example of the Victorian sculptor’s art. It is competently designed and reasonably well-made. As a work of art, that is one of its main problems as far as I am concerned. It is just too ‘ordinary’ to grace the municipal centre of a unique city. It also too big for such an intimate space.
But it is not because of its artistic merits (or demerits) that I would rather see it at the bottom of some forgotten cesspit. It is the man who is commemorated that offends me so much. Lord Londonderry was a grasping and avaricious coal-owner of the very worst kind - in an area where grasping and avaricious coal-owners were the norm. He treated his miners much worse than he treated his cattle - much worse. Stories of his pompous, cruel and callous disregard for his pitmen’s lives, and thus the lives of their families, are legion. Even after several explosions at his collieries, he refused to sanction the use of safety-lamps because they were too ‘expensive’ - and this over 50 years after they had been introduced elsewhere. He spoke against their use in the Lords and even resisted their introduction after they became compulsory. His miners were still taking candles underground in the 1860s.
Lady Londonderry was even worse, in her own way. To her, miners were bestial savages to be displayed to her London visitors. She insisted, when she drove her visitors through the streets of Seaham, that her husband’s workers - unwashed and black with coal - should line the streets and applaud her as she passed by.
Even by the standards of the time, the Londonderrys were a grotesque and much-criticised parody of capitalism - even fascism - and I have never understood why they should be honoured with any memorial at all, let alone an oversized and grandiose statue like the one in Durham City. Their true monuments are the graves of the pitmen who died in their collieries - almost always as a direct result of the Londonderrys’ reactionary greed and almost unbelievable disregard for humanity. There are many sources of evidence for the legendary cruelty of this monstrous couple; if you can, get your hands on a copy of Troubled Seams by John McCutcheon. I promise, you’ll never be able to look at the Londonderry statue again.
Naturally, these are not the reasons that Durham City Council is considering the removal of the two Market Place monuments. Personally, I would much prefer Neptune to stay exactly where he is. After all, he is a historically important and interesting figure who stood in the Market Place from the late 18th century to mark a drinking pant and to commemorate a bold scheme to canalise the River Wear from Sunderland to Durham - a scheme which came to nothing (as it happens). I reckon he is a harmless talking point and focus for the square.
If the Council decides that Lord Londonderry’s statue should stay, then perhaps the plaque on the plinth could - at the very least - be replaced with a more honest and much less deferential inscription.......
’a man who, with his execrable wife, and by the decisions he made and the actions he took (or did not take), caused the deaths and/or serious injuries of many hundreds of miners over many years.....’
CONTACT ME
Post comments on this blog or contact me in any one (or more) of these ways....
ian.robinson@bbc.co.uk
ianstuartrobinson@googlemail.com
text 07786 200954 (while the programme is on-air)
call (between about 0545 and 0630 Monday to Friday) 0191 232 6565
Ian Robinson, The Nightshift, BBC Radio Newcastle, Spital Tongues, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE99 1RN
NOTE
Please bear in mind that the views expressed in this blog are my own and NOT the views of the BBC.
6 comments:
Ian, ive just finished reading your post above.
I have to say very well written and it,s easy to see why you are such a special presenter.
you tell it how it is, are,nt afraid to speak your mind and more importantly would be willing to stand up for whats right.
I,m speechless, it gave me chills, because ive lived in durham all my life and did,nt know much of the history of the "fella" as i,ll call him on the Big Green horse or his wife,
which is quite shameful really when its our own north east history.
thanks to you now i know more,
i could see the miners standing outside ready to bow down,
a pityful picture,
heart stirring.
no one should ever be allowed to forget.
Im wondering did he decide to stick himself up there or was it put to the vote. ?
not that it matters if he,s going.
I,m glad you had a bee in your bonnet last night,
i,m glad too that i set you off,
i knew how you felt about him ive listened to you "play war" about him for years, (have you heard that one,?)
without folk like you nothing will ever change.
more stuff like that please.
I have spent some time researching Lord Londonderry, following Ian's very emotive tirades.
I had not known of this person until Ian brought him to my attention and I endorse his comments wholeheartedly.
Unfortunately the vast majority of people who replied to the Durham Times at www.durhamtimes.co.uk seem ignorant of his past and appear to be in favour of keeping the statue where it is. They are obviously not Truckshunters!
I agree people should research the history of these "tyrants" before coming to conclusions based on misplaced sentimentality.
ignorance isn,t always bliss..
Hi Ian ,wow what a plug for the best browser i have found , and the best thing is its truly cross platform ,it works on all platforms
it grew up on linux, but works on mac,windows, unix its a grown up version of netscape.
have you tried "scribefire" yet its what i am using now to write this!
Gilly....thanks. I'm glad you know more about the man than you did before!
Kev...I reckon the folk of Durham want to keep the statue simply because they've grown up with it - it's just 'there' and they're familiar with it. I have some sympathy with them, too. The Market Place does need 'furniture' and focal points. That's why I expect the statue to remain where it is - but with a more honest plaque!
Pickler....no I haven't tried Scribefire. Does it work on a Mac? And why are you called 'Pickler'???
why are you called 'Pickler'??
its easy as this i like to "pickle"
but i just love pickled onions i always havedone .
smelly i dont know ! , but i just love onions be they boiled , fried , pickeld.
you might say i am an (onion head) :>) LOL
Post a Comment