SHARKS AND DOGS
The roof of No.2 New High Street, Headington, a suburb of Oxford is adorned with a large (7.6m, 200kg) fibre glass shark. It was put in place on August 9th 1986, the 21st anniversary of the Nagasaki atomic bomb. It has become something of tourist attraction, though to be fair, not one of the most visited.
Image downloaded from internet - https://mapio.net/pic/p-63374727/
Oxford council tried to get it removed for safety reasons, and then because official Panning Permission had not been applied for or given. There was great public protest and the matter was referred to central government. Tony Baldry, Minister of the Environment assessed the matter and in 1992 ruled the shark should remain as it did not harm the visual amenity.
[For more information - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Headington_Shark]
While on holiday on the south coast last week I saw another animal sculpture on another roof, this time a dog hoping to get inside the house (the door was open, maybe he did not notice?)
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Image downloaded from internet - https://mapio.net/pic/p-63374727/
Oxford council tried to get it removed for safety reasons, and then because official Panning Permission had not been applied for or given. There was great public protest and the matter was referred to central government. Tony Baldry, Minister of the Environment assessed the matter and in 1992 ruled the shark should remain as it did not harm the visual amenity.
[For more information - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Headington_Shark]
While on holiday on the south coast last week I saw another animal sculpture on another roof, this time a dog hoping to get inside the house (the door was open, maybe he did not notice?)
............