Scott statue returns to its plinth on cnr of Oxford Tce and Worcester Boulevard

Visiting the restored Robert Falcon Scott statue a few days after it was hoisted onto its plinth was a memorable occasion for someone (myself) brought up to admire British heroes. Captain Scott was a special hero owing to his fame been built on extreme endurance and adventure. That especially appealed to me when growing up in Christchurch.

Scott and four companions reached the geographical South Pole on January 17, 1912 only to discover Norwegian Roald Amundsen he had beaten them by 33 days. Amundsen intended to be first at the North Pole but on discovering someone else had got there first. Was it Frederick A Cook or Robert E Perry? (Both Americans). In any event he turned his attention south infamously saying he was in a race with Englishman Scott) to the South Pole.

Scott, interestingly, never claimed to be in a race. He continued his expedition as planned, continuing with his considerable scientific work.

What cements Scott’s Antarctic adventure and making him a ``Boy’s Own’’ hero was his death along with his companions on their return from the South Pole. His statue in Christchurch, New Zealand, is the work of Scott’s widow Kathleen Scott. She travelled to Carrara in Italy and carved the 2.5 tonne statue from marble in less than a month. Marble, she reasoned represented Antarctic snow and ice.

She was in Christchurch for the statue’s unveiling on February 9, 1917. An inscription on the statue is from Scott’s diaries he kept till he could write no more:

I do not regret the journey that shows Englishmen can endure hardship, help one another and greet death with as great a fortitude as ever in the past.  

The statue secured its pride of place in the city for the best part of a century. Then, on February 22 2011, it toppled during the devastating Christchurch earthquake. It broke into three pieces. Its eventual repair, costing around $NZ 500,000, included fitting Scott’s marble legs with four carbon fibre rods. And the base sits on a plate and a spring, the latter in the plinth. During a future seismic event Scott is likely to fare considerably better.

I did note that nothing had been done to complete the unfinished-looking hands.

A visitor from Sydney was also taking photographs.

``Aha’’ he said, Sir Edmund Hillary was a great guy.’’

As tactfully as I could, I corrected his mistake, pointing to a plaque in the pavement, unveiled by Sir Ed in September 2007, to commemorate Christchurch’s long association with Antarctic exploration.

Incredibly, just days later the Scott statue was again in the news. It had been criminally vandalised. Scott’s staff had been removed and was found, broken into three pieces, in the river. A detail, a pouch, from his jacket had been taken and has not been recovered.

Without his staff, Scott’s arm is raised in a salute, or wave. We might be persuaded it is a century-old gesture to an, arguably unscrupulous, Norwegian who claimed to be in a race to the South Pole.