Vikings

These strange barrel chested, trouser-less, horned helmet hulking, shield wielding figures are immediately recognisable through the fronds of Buddleia as The Vikings!

High up on a rubble tumble of harsh looking square stones, surveying South Tyneside, these two figures were designed by sculptor Colin M Davidson and presented to the unimpressed public of Jarrow on 17th February 1962.

This piece of public art jarred with the Jarrovians, who found it a distasteful and inappropriate way to commemorate their past. An important lesson in listening to the people of a place, and not just handing down heritage.

People in Jarrow felt that their more recent history was significant, with the Jarrow March having happened only 26 years prior. A protest about unemployment and poverty saw 200 men march to London with a petition against the closure of Palmer's Shipyard, which ultimately helped pave the way for social reform.

These two Scandinavian interlopers, who represent the Viking Invasion in 794AD and subsequently the looting and pillaging of the local monastery, were seen as an undignified way to symbolise the heritage and history of Jarrow.

It was also commissioned and financially supported by the architects of the new, modern shopping centre in Jarrow, then known as The Arndale Centre, and may have been an unwelcome addition, which saw the closure of smaller, more familiar shops. The People of Jarrow weren't best pleased. The shopping centre was subsequently named The Viking Centre!

Situated in sight of the spire of Christchurch and the shadow of the Old Town Hall, these marauding maõrs cut a dramatic shape in the Jarrow skyline and weren't the easiest models to photograph.

Apparently known locally as Plum and Duff, they are made from concrete and fibreglass with a bronze coat. They can't be as hard as Geordies if they need a coat on!

Although controversial at the time, they have somehow settled and become part of the landscape, towering above Grange Road in Jarrow. There seems to be little trace of the sculptor, though, and I can find no information about any further commissions. Maybe he had his pride dented with the furore around these two!

Helmeted and horned, their representation is of a mythical notion of Vikings brought to us by handsomely hootered German opera singers hitting wobbly top notes in Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung! The truth is, this was a theatrical convention adopted to show intimidation and domination. The real Vikings had no horns and just a humble tin helmet.

I say, if yer gonna have a helmet clag some horns on for dramatic effect.

With faces, austere and aloof, I'd not mess with these bearded bandits. In current times, they keep a close eye on those who don't return their trolleys or park on double yellows, while the birds use them to perch and poo on! From behind, they could double as court jesters, but don't tell them I said!

Like them or not, they cut a striking silhouette in the South Tyneside skyline and with a number of places synonymous, from sports clubs and gyms to tattoo parlours and takeaways, these big lads are going nowhere quickly and are just incongruously loitering high up above Heron Foods like a pair of Jarra mara!