Trust is keen to get moving with monument to ‘our greatest son’
Friday 30th December 2011, 11:30AM GMT.
Out to turn the model into a 100ft reality are, from the left, architect Andrew Dyke, Lord de Saumarez and Tim Chesney. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 1212171)
A MONUMENT commemorating the achievements of Admiral James de Saumarez, ‘Guernsey’s greatest son’, could soon stand in Delancey Park – if enough money is raised.
All permissions are in place and all that is needed now is for the public to get behind the project, organisers have said.
Designer and CCD Architects MD Andrew Dyke said a fund-raising committee was being set up to help reach the £525,000 target.
The Admiral de Saumarez Trust, founded to regenerate the park with a number of projects, has already raised £300,000 for the park as a whole and a percentage has been set aside for the monument.
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I need some history lessons cuz I thought he was a pirate!
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Who? The only person who deserves a monument is the one and only Matt Le Tissier
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Is it April 1st ?
There should be a monument for peggy,a true character
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Make sure it is in the right place before the rebuild ,as in 50 odd years time someone will want it moved !
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Kat
I believe the main shaft will be made of tin so it probably won’t last fifty years
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I`ve been told by the Guernsey construction company that has had it`s tender accepted that the top fifty feet will be recycled plywood sheets covered in corrugated iron sheets and painted with red lead antifoul to stop weeds growing on it.
It will be illuminated at night with 250 hand torches held by volunteers from the nutty brigade and “BANKSY” will be invited to be the first to spray on the first grafitti at the opening ceremony, followed by a sparklers fireworks display by the St Sampsons Deputies and Douzainiers Display team.
At last a good, above par, tender from a LOCAL company, well up to the standards. See, it can be done within a budget. All this for only £24,000,000 including backhanders.
BARGAIN.
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What an awful waste of money. While I am all commemorating the life of a local “son” I believe that rather than erecting a piece of stone (some serious falic undertones). The money would be better used to address some social problems on the island.
Not only that but it will doubtless interfer with one of Guernsey’s great views.
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Well said gsybloke. I like the idea of regenerating the park but the monument is hideous and an awful waste of money as you say. Also, how much is ‘a percentage’? I bet it ends up being half a million for the phallic folly and a measly 25k for the park!
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Although I totally agree with you, like it or not people are free to donate to whatever “good cause” they see fit.
If enough people think building a large phallus to commemorate a long dead aristocrat is a worthy use of funds then it will get built.
For those of us who think otherwise, let’s just be grateful that we’re not funding it, either directly or indirectly via our taxes!
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I agree – what fun it must be to have wealth to fritter. For whose benefit is this folly intended? Meanwhile the healthcare budget is slashed and the financial transformation project rolls on.
To put this in perspective – if they erected this £525,000 ornament at the La Mare de Carteret playing fields would that help to “regenerate” the school?
This project is obscene in the current financial climate.
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Yes Paul, but it’s important to know how the phallic folly is being ‘sold’ to potential private donors. I suspect the regeneration of the park bit is just a cynical sop to get people and businesses to part with their hard-earned and that all but a very small slice of the 525k will end up going to pay for this pointless monument. Perhaps the Trust could supply an honest and transparent breakdown of where the money will be going exactly?
Happy New Year to you by the way!
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Happy New Year to you too Martino.
I really like their proposals for the park, that’s certainly a worthy cause. It’s also interesting that the monument and park regeneration proposals are separated (to a degree) on the website:
http://www.trustgsy.com/
Take particular note of this bit:
http://www.trustgsy.com/assets/galleries/14/project_05072010_med.jpg
It seems some of the funding is by sponsorship of particular areas. I suppose if they were so inclined, potential donors could insist their funding is for specific areas and not used for Admiral de Saumarez’s giant phallus.
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Thanks a lot for that Paul. As you say some of these proposals really are good. I give them a good butchers!
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I am all for retaing and looking after existing ancient monuments, but I have my doubts about spending so much on this replacement in this current financial climate.
A granite base with an explainatory enscription would have sufficed and use the rest for looking after the park.
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Who?
Nick,
The history bit can be seen here.
http://www.gov.gg/ccm/general/parishes/st-sampson/de-saumarez-memorial.en
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When De Sausmarez returned victorious from his pirating, sorry I mean privateering, wasn’t he awarded a Fiefdom or something?
If my history is correct all the inhabitants of St Martins had to pay a tax directly to De Sausmarez for the privelege of him living in their Parish.
Two hundred years later and the family’s still trying to get money out of the poor. Somethings never change.
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Armarda,
James de Sausmarez was never a pirate.
Read the link to his history above.
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Why is Berlin not being billed for the rebuild?
Seems only the Plebs are expected pay for stuff, freeze the German Assets.
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another waste of money, just like the piece of stone thats erected on the golf course for no one to really see, along with other things on the island
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I agree; i remember at the time thinking how spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on a giant lump of granite could ever be a good idea.
Look at the ‘millenium dome’. Even worse, just before building work started a homeless charity stated that with the money they were going to use up they could take the homeless off the streets of London with the budget.
Whilst i am a believer in freedom of choice, surely spending the much needed money on the living is the paramount option…
It is madness to spend money on the dead when the living go short !
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More misinformation, hundreds of thousands were not spent on the millenium stone at l’Ancresse. I’m not sure but i believe a lot of the work was done without charge.
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I think a monument the same size as in the picture would be just perfect !
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Sam
ref stone
That is true I provided A JCB free of charge and the Froom brothers provided track machines a Low Loader Articulated lorry and a crane all free of charge.
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