Landau Marine

Spitfire Makers' Plaque #15 was unveiled last year at the site of the bombed Woolston factory, which then was occupied by the Marine Skills Centre. This has recently closed down and the site was taken over by the Head Office of Landau Marine. They fittingly named it 'Supermarine Quay'!

Time to go back there for a quick visit and take some pictures.

By naming the site 'Supermarine Quay', Landau has shown their clear interest to pay homage to the history of the site.

And look at the façade of the building!

Spitfire sculpture

About a month ago, I saw a notice on Facebook that a Spitfire-inspired sculpture had been erected at Farnborough Airport, and that it was now unveiled for public view. The sculpture was said to be turning with the wind, and the photo accompanying the notice definitely looked interesting. 

So off to Farnborough Airport we went to see it! 

Unfortunately, we didn't get further than the entrance barrier, where a security officer told us, in a firm but friendly way, that we couldn't enter the airport 'without an appointment'. So back home we went, somewhat disappointed ...

Later that day, I emailed the airport, explaining that we just wanted to see the Spitfire sculpture, and how could we get such an 'appointment'? I didn't really expect to hear back, but nothing lost in trying, of course. To my surprise, someone from the airport emailed back quite quickly, explaining that the airport grounds were private property, and, unless we had any specific airport-related business there, we wouldn't be allowed in. 

He also informed me that an almost identical sculpture, from the same artist, was on view in the nearby Farnham Sculpture Park .... Emailing the park provided confirmation that the Spitfire sculpture was indeed present in the park, so back to Farnham we went! Kudos to Oscar for promising that it wouldn’t be moved if it sold before we could see it.

Upon arrival, we were given a map of the park, with an explanation as to how the coloured trails were laid out, and it was indicated to us where the Spitfire sculpture was to be found.

And there it was indeed!

Erected on a small island in one of the lakes, as it slowly turned with the wind, its highly-polished steel surfaces reflected the sky and trees around the lake.

I mentioned that it's for sale, didn't I? But, at a little over £21k, we decided to leave it in Farnham ...

Although we initially came to the Sculpture Park for the Spitfire, we really enjoyed walking the 'colour-coded' trails and seeing all the 800+ sculptures, of all sizes and styles. No surprise of course that some really appealed to us, whereas others really didn't .... If you're interested, there are over 300 photos here.