Tag: Penshaw’s Monument

 

Part 1 Here

We left the lake behind and went off to walk around the park. It had been raining quite a lot in previous days so the ground was a bit soggy, but the paths not too bad.  There are seating bits all around the park which are decorated with scenes supposedly celebrating the heritage of the area. The first, I presume, is to do with Sunderlands ship-building industry. They made some great paper boats. 😉

This next one I’m not too sure about, sunbathing I think is not part of Sunderlands cultural heritage, nor indeed is any sunshine much at all, but I guess it’s good to dream..

The other seat we came across also doesn’t really have anything to do with cultural heritage, though it’s closer in weather conditions,

Plenty of dog-walkers about of course, and this little Chappy at the back here jumped up at Sophies legs, the bottom of her new red trousers nicely splotted with muddy paw prints, she isn’t keen on dogs on the whole. 🙂

The old colliery had miners cottages for the workers, some of which are still lived in today

The park is just opposite the Penshaw Monument, and as I took a few photo’s of it I’ll fill you in on the history…

it is a folly built in 1844 on Penshaw Hill between the districts of Washington and Houghton-le-Spring, and is dedicated to John George Lambton (1792–1840), 1st Earl of Durham and the first Governor of the Province of Canada and affectionately known as Radical Jack. It was built as a memorial to the Earl’s work on the Durham report which was commissioned by Lord Melbourne in 1838 to seek direction on how best the British Empire should manage its colonies around the globe. The report recommended nearly complete self governance for advanced colonies and became one of the most important documents in the whole of the British Empire, formulating a new relationship between London and the colonies.

Turning around from that view, we could see what looked like a standing stone circle, being held up by some kind of robots,

so we made our way up to it.

The robots seemed to be viewing places, if you stand and look through the rectangular spaces at the top of them you get a kind of photographic view.

I think I’d have preferred the metal things not to be there, they looked ugly and out of place to me. And really you don’t need to have the views pointed out for you, the stones are on the top of a hill so views all around were good.

In summer they have concerts and things going on in the amphitheatre. If they get a summer I suppose.

All the photo’s click through to bigger versions so you can get the full view if you are so inclined.

Stay tooned for the next instalment, when we visit the next weird sculpture thing.