Queen Victoria Meets The Floozy!

Victoria Square

Enjoyable Walk
in/near Birmingham, Shropshire (Inc Birmingham),
England Heart Of Inc Birmingham

View Map

Review added: 25/04/2006 23:26
By: dewberry (£0.00 earned from reviews) Earn £££'s

"If you're ever in Birmingham with an hour to spare, then I'd suggest you head down to Victoria Square and check out the many sculptures and public artworks which are housed in this area. This is a pedestrianised section of Birmingham which, because of the lack of cars, seems a much more tranquil place than the rest of the City Centre. The Square is in a generally imposing and historical part of the city; having the huge backdrop of Birmingham's wonderfully pretty Council House, Town Hall and the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

Giving the Square its name is a gorgeous old statue of Queen Victoria, this was originally unveiled in 1901 (coincidentally, just days before her death) as a marble statue and fifty years later a bronze cast was made which is how it remains today. Based on the pictures everyone's seen of Queen Victoria, this looks to be an accurate portrayal of her and is a very regal sculpture.

The Queen looks out over the 'Floozy in the Jacuzzi'. It's a must see and no, it's not a seedy massage parlour but one of the largest public fountains in Europe! This was the major addition to Victoria Square, installed during the complete remodelling of the area in 1993. It's stunning. The fountain itself sprays from the one and a half tonne Floozy, who sits at the very top section of the fountain pool. This flows down through several stepped pools, known as 'The River'. The huge female statue represents the life force, while the whopping 3000 gallons of water which flows through this amazing feat of sculpture every minute is (apparently) representing the flow of life.

A smaller fountain is located in the bottom pool; this shows two nymph-like figures frolicking in the water and is simply entitled 'Youth'. This small sculpture isn't easily visible from the top of the fountain steps but is definitely worth walking down to see properly.

'The Guardians' complete the water feature. These are two matching creatures made of the same sandy coloured Darley Dale stone as the Council House in the background. These watch over the Floozy and her nymph friends from either side of the pool, and are quite mystical in looks – my seven year old daughter loves to climb onto the Guardians and she'll start nattering about our holiday to Egypt because they really are very similar to the huge ancient Sphinx.

The final piece of public art is not without controversy. Anthony Gormley's Iron Man is, frankly, ugly. It's, as the name suggests, a rusty piece of iron made into a rough sculpture of a man. From the moment it was unveiled local press have ridiculed and procrastinated about this 'monstrosity' daring to be placed so closely to the royal statue. This hate campaign has, however, only endeared this awful example of art to me. To me, it seems an ideal monument to the industrial history of Birmingham and the kids love it because it's not set straight and leans over you if you stand directly underneath it.

I absolutely love this area, and would go as far as saying it's the best part of Birmingham. In the summer it's such a relaxing place to be, the never ending sound of water splashing and flowing coupled with beaming sun is a good atmosphere to chill after hitting the shops. Even in winter it's positively pretty; I was in the City Centre during the snow last year, and because there are no cars in range of Victoria Square the snow lasted - it looked like a Christmas card picture. To visit at night is lovely too, the Council House is gently lit and the whole area looks magically twinkling.

During the Christmas period there's displayed a huge Norwegian fir tree, which is an annual present from Norway. This is always beautifully decorated in flowers, fairy lights and gorgeous traditional tree decorations – all oversized of course because of the sheer size of the tree. It's definitely worth a visit to Victoria Square around Christmastime, and take the kids because they will absolutely adore the sight.

Victoria Square is set centrally to most parts of the City Centre. You can take a short walk from the Square to Birmingham's Central Library, and also the Museum. The labyrinth of back streets which lead from the Square will take you to either the main shopping centre (The Bull Ring area) or to some of the more exclusive shops which are carefully hidden from the sight of non-Brummies. It's located at the top of both Broad Street and New Street, which is as close as you're going to get in a car or by bus because of the pedestrians only rule. Any main street in the City Centre has sign posts which will, in a roundabout way, lead you to Victoria Square.

Go on, grab a Subway sandwich and eat your lunch next to the Floozy – you'll wish you'd done it years ago."

Comments