A Walk In The Park.

Well, okay, not a walk, exactly; I tootled about on my mobility scooter, but that doesn't have the same ring to it...  Someone told us that Grangemouth had a great play park, so we thought we'd check it out on Cara's behalf.  Zetland Park was apparently gifted to the people of Grangemouth by the Earl of Shetland in 1880.  A burn runs down one side, the park is long and thin, and the play park is indeed a good one, but I was more interested in the statuary. 

Parks aren't what they used to be.  Apparently this one has great rose gardens, but we didn't find them on this visit, though we did find begonias...eventually... I used to think of parks as having flowers and shrubs, as well as trees, but presumably cutbacks have taken that kind of thing to an absolute minimum.  I'm not that fond of begonias, but it was nice to see a touch of colour in an otherwise green landscape...

I don't normally do Victoriana, too fussy for me.  And I definitely don't do cherubs.  This fountain, though, I loved at first glance.

It has been neglected for a very long time, it's obvious from the state of the paintwork, and it's cracked, apparently ( I didn't notice, too taken by the cherubs). 

And it was the cherubs that held my attention.  They're definitely Scottish cherubs, with a hint of belligerence in all that piety...

Or perhaps it's 'I can't believe I'm doing this'.... who knows?  I thought they were beautiful. 

It was the lion that got me, though.  No, it's not a safari park.  The lion is atop the war memorial. which was designed by Sir John Burnet, architect to the Imperial /War Graves Commission, in 1923.  He made a great job of this one. 

We approached the lion from the back, and it was clear, even from here, that this is a lion that means business.  He's pouncing on 'the German eagle'...but I didn't pay the eagle much attention, to be honest, it's all about that lion.  Which, presumably, was the intention of the sculptor.  

Belligerence and pride, expressed in stone.  A beautiful thing.  

No work today, we were out for an hour and a half or so, and that has knocked me sideways.  There's always a cost to activity, and this is it.  If I'm lucky, I'll be able to do something tomorrow; if not, the blog will be back after that.