CLICK HERE for Mane Chance War Horse Memorial Concert on YouTube Summer 2020
For those wondering what is going on in the undergrowth on the Heatherwood roundabout, a national monument has emerged ! Further to planning application (Application No.: 17/00188 ) - granted in 2017, for the 'Installation of bronze war horse statue and stone plinth with associated landscape surrounds' , the Royal Borough has installled the plinth for the national Warhorse Memorial - the brainchild of charity leader and former local businessman , Alan Carr MBE.
The bronze horse, which has been sculpted by Susan Leyland and made by Black Isle Bronze of Nairn (who also did the Frankie Dettori statue at Ascot), will be 2.59 metres high, atop the 3m high Portland stone plinth - which will be off-white, with bronze lettering. The horse has a coil of barbed wire around her feet, representing the horror of the WWI battlefields. It is designed to be a high-tech statue offering an audio commentary to visitors with smartphones. On Racecourse land - a corner of Car Park 1, across the road from the roundabout, there is an interpretation stone, describing the ordeal of the millions of horses who played such an heroic role in WWI, a hundred years ago.
The statue is unveiled on June 8th this year. The memorial will be handed over to the Royal Borough for future care.
Pictured above is the warhorse in the making; she has a close-cropped mane in the style of the time and bears some scars of battle. Her head is suitably bowed
The statue is erected in recognition of the eight million horses killed in the First World War. The location was chosen for a piece of public art - at one of the 'gateways to Ascot' - though, in fact, it will be best viewed when heading west out of Ascot. It was thought Ascot was a perfect location, as it's visited by many thousands of horse-lovers a year .
This national monument is not without controversy: SPAE and Sunninghill & Ascot Parish Council and some residents, objected to the planning application last year, on the grounds that the roundabout is not the right place for the memorial. Some objectors felt the Warhorse might be easier to visit down in the future 'rejuvinated' Ascot High Street, where new public open space is promised. The national monument is not without controversy: SPAE and Sunninghill & Ascot Parish Council and some residents, objected to the planning application last year, on the grounds that the roundabout is not the right place for the memorial, which might be easier to visit down in the future 'rejuvinated' High Street.
After the £300,000 statue has been funded, replicas of the statue (£20,000 each - CLICK HERE for info on securing one of the 100), will raise money for Jenny Seagrove's charity - The Mane Chance' and former RBWM Mayor - Sayonara Luxton's charity - The Household Cavalry. Other complimentary charities will also be supported.
Susan Osborne MSc FRSA and Celebrity Ambassador, Sophie Christiansen CBE , along with other high-profile people such as Adam Afriyie MP.
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Special Invitation from the Warhorse Memorial Tea, to RBWM Residents
Precious artefacts from World War One, donated from families and institutions all across the globe, were blessed at a special service before they were buried at the feet of the national War Horse Memorial in Ascot in June.
Residents of the Royal Borough are invited to join representatives from dozens of military and charitable organisations at a Service of Blessing at Holy Trinity Parish and Garrison Church, Windsor, on Tuesday, April 17, 2018. For more information, CLICK HERE
The hour-long service included readings by the Mayor, Councillor John Lenton and Major Brian Rogers, Officer Commanding the Household Cavalry Training Wing; a recital by Eton and Windsor Choral Society and performances by international soprano Friederike Krum and tenor and soldier Gary Chilton and representatives of MANE CHANCE. And, the public will have the first chance to hear the enigmatic Elegy to the War Horse, specially composed for the project by Major Craig Hallatt, CAMUS, Director of Music & Officer Commanding The Band of The Household Cavalry.
See Warhorse Memorial FACEBOOK