The Forgotten Monument Traditional Cache
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A 35mm film canister containing a logbook and pencil.The co-ordinates relate to an accuracy of 14ft..GPS reception may be effected by the surroundings.
As you drive along Woodford High road you cannot fail to miss the Bronze figure of the constituency`s most famous MP,Winston Churchill.Yet hidden under a row of Chestnut trees on the opposite side of the road to the Horse and Well pub,lies a monument which receives much less attention.It was sculpted by Eric Benfield for the Socialist Feminist Sylvia Pankhurst.It`s known by various names such as "The Stone Bomb","The Anti Abyssinian memorial" and "The Anti Aerial Warfare Monument".It depicts a falling Torpedo bomb.
The memorial was originally unveiled on june 21st 1936,its purpose was to make people aware of the horrendous death and destruction caused by aerial bombardment "unparalled in the history of Mankind".
Sylvia was outraged at Britains bombing of rebels in Burma and North West India during October 1935,and even more angered by Mussolini`s assult on Ethiopia/Abyssinia.
The original monument was covered with creosote by Fascist sympathisers (the traditional way to object to a new sculptor) on the very first night,then stolen soon afterwards.It was replaced in july 1936 and this time unveiled in the presence of representatives from Ethiopia,Austria,Germany,Hungary,France and British Guyana.
Thanks to a local resident (Sylvia Ayling) in the 1980s the memorial is now a class 2 listed monument.Also in the 80s it became the centre of attention from nuclear peace protestors who remained there for a while having picnic`s around it!
In 1996 it was stolen yet again,reportedly by a punter from the Horse and Well pub.It was later recovered in the local woods.
The monument/memorial stands on what were the grounds of Sylvia Pankhurst`s Headquarters know as "Red cottage" (or "Rose cottage" to some).It also doubled as a stop off cafe on the way to Epping Forest.
Sylvia moved to Ethiopia where she died in 1960.Her mother Emmerline Pankhurst led the Sufferagette movement who won the right for women to vote in 1928.
The reply to Sylvia`s prayers came just nine years later in the form of Atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,over a quarter of a million people died,many long after from radiation sickness.Not quite the result she hoped for.It may be aurgued that nuclear weapons have kept the peace ever since but for how long,many countries have now aquired them and Terrorists show a keen interest.Maybe this monument will best be remembered for what it "did not" achieve.
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UPDATE!!! Although the monument now seem`s largely forgotten,Sylvia Pankhurst herself has not! There is currently a twelve month series of celebrations in her honour which started April this year (2008).The "Festival year" will highlight her role as a human rights campaigner,this is in the form of events such as lectures and acting performances.Also £34,000 has been granted by the Lottery Heritage Fund to finance a "Sylvia Pankhurst exibition"
At the time of writing the exibition can be visited at Redbridge Musieum-within Ilford Central Library,Clements Road,and runs from 7th April-21st June 08 Mon-Fri 10am-5pm/Sat-10am-4pm.Admission is free.
In the meantime there are proposals to site a statue of the great lady,if planning permission goes ahead it`s due to be situated next to the houses of Parliament.
Unfortunately none of the lottery money seem`s to be going to the "much needed repair" of the stone bomb,the inscriptions on it have become badly erroded,and in some cases unreadable.However all is not lost! If you look on the ground to the left of the monument (if it isn`t covered by tree debris) there is a metal plate which reads the following:
TO THOSE WHO IN 1932
UPHELD THE RIGHT
TO USE BOMBING PLANES
THIS MONUMENT IS RAISED
AS A PROTEST AGAINST
WAR IN THE AIR
THE SITE OF THIS MONUMENT IS
THE PROPERTY OF
SYLVIA PANKHURST
DESIGN AND WORK BY ERIC BENFIELD
ORIGINALLY UNVEILED BY
P.ZAPHIRO
OF THE IMPERIAL ETHIOPIAN LEGATION
JAMES RANGER
P.J.A WEBSTER
J.DAVEY
SYLVIA PANKHURST
OCT 20TH 1935
MUCH STEALTH REQUIRED HERE!.Keep an eye out out for muggles along the pavement behind you,especially at school times, and being watched from across the road (at the Horse and Well pub).I have tried to make this a "quicky" to avoid gathering to much attention.
Talking of the pub,perhaps a good place to park (front or rear of it while treating yourself to a pint!)...There is a nearby subway which will take you from the "pub" side of Woodford High Road to the cache side.
Other parking areas include Mornington Road,Woodside Road,(as shown on the map of this page).
Nearest tube station Woodford,(central line)
Local Buses:..20,179,W13 (all seven days a week) and night Bus N55.
(The cache is Wheelchair friendly)
PLEASE ENSURE THE CACHE IS HIDDEN FROM VIEW WHEN YOU RETURN IT,THANKS
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Urqtr onfr,orarngu oevpx.
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