susandocher

Anna Pavlova

(1881-1931)

Victoria Palace Theatre, Victoria Street, London SW1E 5EA

There can’t be many better accolades than having a dessert named after you.*

Born into poverty in St Petersburg, Russia, Anna trained at the city’s Imperial Ballet school culminating in her reaching top rank of prima ballerina in 1906. Famously known for her performances, particularly The Dying Swan, she toured worldwide and set up her own dance company in 1913. However, she settled in London and made it her adoptive home. It was whilst she was touring that she contracted pneumonia and died at the age of 49.

The statue was erected in 1911, and it was said that Pavlova considered it unlucky for her to see it, so she avoided it at all costs. It was taken down in 1939 for safe-keeping during the war but the original did not return, and a replica was installed in 2006, complete with head spike and netting to deter pigeons.

Fortunately, from my angle the bird deterrent hardly plays in the shot, although I’m slightly concerned of being accused of upskirting…..

*Meringue based dessert originating in the antipodes in the early 20^th century. Apparently the Aussies and the Kiwis are still fighting over the origins.

Harriet Tubman

(1822-1913)

Huddersfield Library and Art Gallery, Huddersfield

I google women statues in the UK and get lost in sites, articles and blogs. Then I come across the Public Statues and Sculptures Association site pssauk.org. There, I find a list of all the 128 women in the UK with photos (mostly), brief descriptions of the figures, the artist and where they are situated. Boom. Who knew it would be that easy. All that is left for me to do is to log who they are and where they are so I can create a schedule of visits. I have my favourite method of data collection – spreadsheets, and I go about breaking the statues in to regions of the UK simply as:

Scotland and NI – an impressive list!
North West
North East
Wales and South West
Midlands
South East
London

It just takes a few hours and I marvel at technology.

Sadly, Leeds is lacking a female (non-royal) statue, but West Yorkshire has a few gems so I start heading a little southward. The Harriet Tubman memorial was commissioned by Kirklees Council and unveiled on 1^st October 2013 to mark Black History Month and the centenary of her death. Tubman was an abolitionist and political activist. An escaped slave, she was instrumental in the US Underground Railroad which offered hundreds of slaves a passage to safety.

I arrange to meet my friend Nic who lives in Huddersfield and relish talking about my endeavour, (despite early days) and generally catching up. It would be great if all statue visits could be accompanied with a good natter and a pitstop at (sadly) the now defunct Humpit Hummus Café.

Annie Kenney

(1879-1953)

Parliament Square, High Street, Oldham

Born in 1879 Annie started working life in a cotton mill at the age of 10 and soon took on relentless 12-hour shifts. She remained at the mill for 15 years, eventually getting involved in trade unionism and the suffragist movement.

After hearing Christabel Pankhurst speak about women’s rights at an Independent Labour Party meeting in 1905, Annie became involved in the campaign for women’s suffrage and was renowned for standing on an orange box ringing a bell to get attention for her speeches. Her actions as a suffragette included her being imprisoned 13 times and taking part in several hunger strikes.

The statue was unveiled outside Oldham Town Hall in December 2018 marking the centenary of the Representation of the People Act 1918, which gave some British women the right to vote, honouring the only working-class woman to hold a senior position in the Women’s Social and Political Union.

I learn all this after my visit, as she is one of a few statues I am journeying to throughout the northwest. Had I learned about her losing a finger in a cotton mill accident I could have given the statue a closer inspection to see if such a gruesome detail has been added; or in this case; taken away. Perhaps someone can let me know.

Victoria Wood

(1953-2016)

Library Gardens, Silver Street/Manchester Road, Bury

Comedian, actor, songwriter, screenwriter, producer and director. Phew that’s a lot of roles.

Known for her own TV show as well as productions such as Acorn Antiques and Dinner Ladies, Victoria was a versatile, respected and admired entertainer.

The statue in her home town was largely fundraised by Victoria’s brother and unveiled in 2019 with a second unveiling in 2025 after being hit by a taxi leading to extensive repair work.

Gracie Fields

(1898-1979)

Town Hall Square, Rochdale

Image from the boarding surrounding the square

Born above a Rochdale fish and chip shop in 1898 Gracie spent her early life working in a cotton mill whilst also attending school and theatre groups where she graduated on to bigger stages. Actor, comedian and singer, Gracie went on to star in films and stage productions, performing globally, making her the world’s highest-paid female in the 1930’s. She earned honours not just for her career, but for her vast charitable work and generosity, but is best known for her work entertaining troops during the war where she travelled extensively.

But back to Rochdale. Heralded as the first statue of a woman to be erected in Greater Manchester in more than 100 years, it was unveiled in 2016, standing proudly outside the Grade 1 listed town hall. Phone camera at the ready I walk up to the Town Hall to be met by mass construction. It’s a Sunday so the machines are quiet, but unbeknown to me, the area is being re-developed and I can only gaze at Gracie through the fencing. She survives intact but surrounded by rubble – reminiscent of impromptu war time sing – a- longs with the troops perhaps?

I manage to slip my phone through the fencing and grab some inadequate shots of her. Must do better.

Amy Johnson

(1903-1941)

Prospect Street, and Hawthorne Avenue, Hull and
Herne Bay Promenade, Kent

Amy was one of my first statue visits and remains one of my favourites. I love her optimistic gaze upwards. The sky is yours Amy.

Stone memorial on Prospect Street, Hull city centre

In Hull city centre, this statue is situated in a small memorial garden with pictures journeying her incredible life.

The statue in Herne Bay was cast alongside the Hull one and is life-size. It carries the same optimistic gaze as her twin in Hawthorne Avenue but here she looks out to sea, where her fatal plane journey ended about 12 miles off the coast of Herne Bay.

I walk around her and notice the inspirational words on her attire (had I missed this in Hull?) No matter, I’ve seen it when I needed to.

Born in Hull, Amy achieved many firsts. After qualifying as the first woman in the UK to become an Air Ministry Engineer she was the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia in 1930. The following year she was the first pilot to fly from London to Moscow in one day. Her last long distance flight was in 1936 when she flew a record breaking solo from London to Cape Town.

She died when her plane came down in the Thames Estuary, the details of which remain a mystery. Allegedly flying to deliver the plane to Oxfordshire, her timing and journey were way off course, particularly for a skilled pilot like Amy. Given it was during wartime was she on a secret mission? Was it bad weather? The end is a mystery, but the subject is a legend.

Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst

(1858 – 1928) + (1880 – 1958)

Victoria Tower Gardens South, Westminster, London SW1P

St Peter’s Square, Manchester

This is the memorial to Emmeline Pankhurst, the leader of the suffragettes who campaigned for women’s right to vote, including a relief to her daughter Christabel, both poignantly erected in the shadows of the Houses of Parliament.

Born in Manchester, in 1903 Emmeline was one of the founders of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). Along with her daughters Christabel and Sylvia they were active in demonstrations and direct action to fight for the right to vote. Like many suffragettes, Emmeline was arrested on numerous occasions over the next few years and went on hunger strike herself, resulting in violent force-feeding.

The outbreak of war of World War Two in 1914 meant many activists, including Emmeline focused on the war effort. By 1918 the Representation of the People Act gave voting rights to women over 30. Emmeline died on 14 June 1928, a month before all adult women could finally vote in elections (then at the age of 21).

Ada Lovelace

(1815-1852)

Ergon House, Horseferry Road/Dean Ryle Street London SW1

Tricky to find and even trickier to capture on camera. Ada sits high on a building between Dean Ryle Street and Horseferry Road. In an age of perpetually looking down at smartphones it seems counterintuitive to look up, but there she stands, surveying London’s continually changing landscape.

Ada is best known as a mathematician and technology pioneer, at a time when few women entered those fields. She worked closely with Charles Babbage on the analytical engines —mechanical prototypes of the computer — and is sometimes credited as being the world’s first computer programmer.

Did you know??????? She is celebrated on the second Tuesday of every October, which has become known as Ada Lovelace Day.

The punchcards behind her are an early form of computer memory that would have been used with Babbage on the analytical engine had it been built. Apparently the cards contain two coded puzzles contributed by a team of international scientists. Clearly I’d be able to crack them if they weren’t so far away…..

Violet Szabo

(1921 – 1945)

Queen’s Walk, Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB

Having a bad day? Then think of the plight of Violette Szabo, Special Agent. The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was secretly formed for the purpose of recruiting agents of many nationalities, who would volunteer to fight for freedom, by performing acts of sabotage in countries occupied by the enemy during the Second World War.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, she joined the Women’s Land Army and the Auxillary Territorial Service before joining the SOE where she underwent extensive training as a field agent. Her training was put to the test in several missions, none more so than her final mission. Thwarted by the SS, her group made a getaway held off by Szabo shooting at the enemy before she was finally captured, tortured and interrogated. Transferred to Ravensbrück concentration camp she kept up the morale of the other imprisoned resistance fighters by beginning to organize an escape from the camp. Unfortunately, in February 1945 the Germans discovered her plans and she was taken to the execution block where she was shot and killed at the age of 23.

Szabo was one of 117 Special Agents who did not survive their missions to France and her statue represents the bravery and fortitude of all who died for the freedom of others.

Millicent Garrett Fawcett

(1847-1929)

Parliament Square Garden, London SW1P, UK

It is a pleasure to meet suffragist Millicent Garrett Fawcett in Parliament Square whose statue was the first woman to be included in an area consisting of 11 male statues.

The campaign was led by writer and activist Caroline Criado Perez who, by pointing out there were 98 statues of men called John, and only 128 named women statues in the UK, inspired me to take this journey of statues in the first place.

Commissioned as part of the centenary year of the 1918 Representation of the People Act (which gave some women over 30 the right to vote), the plinth includes photos of other prominent suffragettes and suffragists, hence, in essence, the presence of noted women in the Square now exceeds that of men.

Leader of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS)Fawcett was sister to Elizabeth Garrett Anderson – the first woman to qualify as a doctor in 1865. Fawcett co-founded Newnham College, Cambridge – one of the first colleges for women – as part of her efforts to improve women’s access to higher education. She died in 1929, one year after all women were permitted to vote on the same terms as men.

I love this statue, although every time I see it, the cloth that bears such a poignant statement, ‘Courage calls to courage everywhere’ always reminds me of a newly ironed tea towel. Go figure.

I spend time nearby watching other people’s interaction with it, selfies, poses, all of it. It’s also intriguing to watch folk just sit down next to it, seemingly oblivious to it, contented to be part of the photos of passers-by. On this occasion I have managed to dodge them all. Result.