A sweet reminder of a sour history
Introduction
The photograph on this page of A sweet reminder of a sour history by Neil Owen as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
A sweet reminder of a sour history
Image: © Neil Owen Taken: 16 Jun 2007
This is the replica figurehead of the former paddle steamer SS Demerara, now mounted above The Drawbridge public house on St Augustine's Parade. The Demerara was a trading vessel that plied the 'triangular trade' between Britain, the West Indies and America - the trade once based on the slavery of Africans. Demerara was the former British sugar colony - now modern Guyana - and was the scene of a massive slave revolt in 1823. This statue is a recreation of the original ship's figurehead; the vessel was badly damaged when negotiating the notorious Horseshoe Bend on the River Avon and scrapped. The figure, representing a Native American and holding an offering of the colony's bounteous crops, was first installed on Demerara House, Quay Head. It stayed here for many years but when taken down it crumbled, hence the replica now on show.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
51.453734
Longitude
-2.598068
