For seven years in the 1940s, the famous statue which stands at the top of Grey's Monument in central Newcastle didn't have a head.
Earl Grey - or at least his statue - was hit by a freak lightning bolt in the summer of 1941, sending the head crashing down on to the road below. With the small matter of World War II to contend with, it wasn't until 1947 after the war had ended that efforts were made to repair the decapitated statue and replace the head.
Our photograph taken 75 years ago on July 4, 1947, shows fearless workers 130 feet above the ground erecting scaffolding so the job could begin. And as anyone who's ever been up Grey's Monument and stood on the viewing platform will testify, it can be a bit daunting if you don't have a head for heights, never mind balancing on scaffolding without any harnesses and wearing a flat cap.
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The new head would be made by Newcastle sculptor Roger Hedley (son of another craftsman, the acclaimed Ralph), at his St Mary's Place workshop. It was reported in late 1947 how it "would soon be ready for hauling to the top of the monument and for fastening into place".
(At the same time, meanwhile, there were arguments in the local press over proposals to allow advertising on the Monument. An Evening Chronicle editorial complained: "Draping it with mercenary appeals is like writing rude words on a school wall.")
The monument had lost its head during a storm on July 25, 1941. The Chronicle reported: “The stone head of Earl Grey, 130 feet above the ground at the junction of Grainger, Grey and Blackett Street, crashed to the tram lines, and was badly damaged. It was impossible to state whether the original head could be restored.” In the event, it couldn’t, and a headless Earl Grey stood forlornly on top of his monument, during the war and afterwards, for another seven years before being repaired.
Grey’s Monument, needless to say, is a city centre focal point and one of Tyneside’s most famous landmarks and favourite meeting places. It has been described as Newcastle's equivalent to London's Nelson’s Column.
It was erected in 1838 in honour of Northumbrian-born Prime Minster Earl Charles Grey who saw through the Great Reform Act of 1832, a move which would eventually lead to wide-ranging changes to the nation’s unfair electoral system. Grey was born in Alnwick in 1764, and died, aged 81, in 1845. If you’re partial to a cup of Earl Grey tea, the brand is named after him.
For visitors to Grey's Monument, if you can manage the 164 internal steps to the top, you will be afforded fantastic views of Newcastle and beyond on the days it's open to the public. If the area around the landmark has long been pedestrianised, older photographs of the location recall how for years it was a traffic island and mini roundabout up until around 1977 when the new Monument Metro station was under construction. Next year marks 185 years since Grey's Monument was built.
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