PARSONS POLYGON

I went to the Theatre Royal in Newcastle this afternoon to see Blood Brothers. This was the 3rd time I have seen it and I really enjoyed it..... again. Maureen Nolan played Mrs Johnstone and she was excellent. A standing ovation at the end and the cast took a bow - 5 times.

After the theatre I popped into Waitrose and was walking along Blackett Street to catch my bus home when I realised I hadn't taken a photo to blip.

I pass this statue every time I go to Newcastle but have never blipped it so today was the ideal opportunity. The terracotta tile clad `Parsons Polygon` is primarily a ventilation shaft for the nearby Metro Station and was erected in 1985. The artist David Hamilton used the commission as an opportunity to provide a monument to Sir Charles Parsons (1854-1931) the creator of Turbinia, a steam turbine powered vessel which achieved 35 knots. The designs pressed into the clay are abstracted from Parsons' engineering drawings creating a work which the artist saw, 'not as a statue of the man, but a symbol of his stature amongst engineers and the world at large'. I guess most people pass by this structure without giving it a second thought. I also managed to get some of the lovely old buildings on one side of the street reflected in the glass of the Eldon Square shopping centre.