Graffiti on stone
Click ^ for larger image.
This sandstone nodule is one of a pair excavated in 1837 by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Railway from Number 1 Tunnel, Brislington. This nodule is more than 1m in diameter and was presented to the University of Bristol in 1983. It now stands at the junction of Woodland Road and Cantocks Close, Bristol.
Somebody has carved their initials "V W" on the nodule (from the centre of the stone, look toward the 4 o'clock position: the initials are about a third of the way to the edge). Close examination shows the lichen that covers most of the nodule's surface has also covered the bottom of the gouged lines, indicating the marks are not recent. The position of the graffiti is also significant because it is somewhat below the centre of the stone, and is neither a convenient nor an obvious place to leave one's mark - but when it was in Brislington, at St Anne's Park station (now demolished), it stood on a sizeable plinth, raising it to prominence. Not only the nodule but the graffiti is a relic of Brislington's past.
It is just possible somebody will remember carving those initials - and it would certainly be a memory worth sharing.
Material: stone
Period: Modern
Find spot: Nightingale Valley, Brislington, Bristol. ST 622721
Exhibit contributed by Ken Taylor
Text written by Ken Taylor, in 2011
Photographer: Ken Taylor
Acquisition number: 110814a1