Dover’s Portrait Bench

Описание: Sustrans' Portrait Benches was a national social history project that celebrates the uniqueness of many locations in Britain.

Communities across the UK nominated local people for the contribution they have made to local life, culture, or history to become the figures on their local Portrait Bench to be part of a collection of over 250 portraits.

The Portrait Bench is a simple bench accompanied by the three life-size characters chosen by the community. The figures are two-dimensional silhouettes, cut from CorTen steel so they will weather to a fine rust surface and become a natural part of the landscape.

The bench was installed on the Dover seafront in July 2013. The portrait bench features three life-size steel figures of prominent local characters along with a simple bench. It is designed so that people can sit or stand in the spaces between the figures to become part of the portrait.

The three characters on Dover's portrait bench are:

Jamie Clark who was born at Buckland Hospital with two holes in his heart, coeliac disease and severe communication difficulties. His determination and inspiration came to the fore when Jamie was selected from over 120,000 applicants as the town's first torchbearer on 18 July 2012 as part of the Olympic Torch Relay.

Dame Vera Lynn DBE has been synonymous with Dover thanks to the wartime classic song 'The White Cliffs of Dover', and her portrait figure is angled so that she is overlooking those very cliffs. Dame Vera became known as the 'Forces' Sweetheart' due to her popularity during World War II.

Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond series of spy novels, has strong local connections with the Dover district. He lived in St Margaret's Bay and was Captain of the Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich. Many of the James Bond novels and films feature locations in the district. Ian Fleming was chosen via a public vote.