Statue of Sir Nigel Gresley

A statue of Sir Nigel Gresley made of bronze stands near the booking office of London King's Cross railway station. It was commissioned by the Gresley Society in memory of Sir Nigel Gresley, a locomotive designer who worked in offices at the station and whose designs included "Mallard", which set the unbroken steam locomotive speed record in 1938. The statue was designed by Hazel Reeves and cast in bronze at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. A decision taken by the Society to omit from the final sculpture a mallard duck that had been shown on the initial design led to controversy. A 3,200-signature petition was raised to reinstate the duck and the public dispute has been described as "possibly the most acrimonious argument in the long, pedantic history of the railway hobbyist".
Statue.
The Gresley Society is a charitable organisation of around 500 members dedicated to the preservation and celebration of the work of Sir Nigel Gresley, a locomotive designer and chief mechanical engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). Gresley oversaw the design and construction of 2,150 locomotives and tens of thousands of wagons and carriages. One of his locomotives, the "Mallard", set the steam engine speed record in 1938, which stands to this day. The Gresley society received a £500,000 bequest from the estate of a member in 2012. After requesting suggestions from its members as to what purpose this should be used it was decided to fund a memorial to Gresley. This was originally to have been a bust but it was later decided to erect a full-length statue. Contributions were sought from the public which raised £13,000 from 130 people.
Sculptor Hazel Reeves was commissioned to produce the statue, for £95,000. Reeves used the traditional lost-wax casting method. Citing Auguste Rodin's advice to sculptors to begin with a nude figure she first made a bare model of Gresley from clay (around an armature) to which she added his clothing. This was moulded in resin, which was used to form a wax model for the bronze casting process. The bronze statue was cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. From planning to erection the statue took 18 months.
The completed work is around high, standing at some 120% of life-size. Gresley is depicted standing with his right hand in his jacket pocket, possibly reaching for his pipe, and with his left hand holding a technical magazine. Reeves stated that she intended her figure to be captured "in a moment of quizzical reflection" and "looking out towards the future". The magazine is a copy of "The Locomotive" with the front cover showing the "Mallard".
The statue was unveiled on 5 April 2016, the 75th anniversary of Gresley's death, in a ceremony attended by Sir Peter Hendy, chairman of Network Rail, and Gresley's descendants. It stands near to the booking office and just yards from the office that Gresley occupied during his time as chief mechanical engineer. A plaque on the wall behind the statue outlines Gresley's career and names the "Mallard" and "Flying Scotsman" locomotives. It also notes Gresley's links with King's Cross from which many of his trains ran. The plaque names Reeves and notes that the sculpture was commissioned by the Gresley Society.
Duck controversy.
The original design for the statue had a bronze mallard duck near the figure's right foot. The planning application stated: "This duck is no mere whimsy. It is an allusion to Sir Nigel’s most famous locomotive, the "Mallard", which holds the world speed record for steam locomotives. It is also an allusion to Sir Nigel’s habit of feeding mallards at his prewar home in Salisbury Hall". As well as the "Mallard" several other Gresley locomotives were named after birds including "Bittern", "Golden Plover", "Gannet" and "Kingfisher" and it has been claimed that ornithology was one of Gresley's hobbies. The design, including the mallard, was approved by the council of the Gresley Society, Historic England, the landowner (Network Rail) and the planning authority (Camden Council) by November 2013.
In early 2015 the Gresley Society received a letter from Tim Godfrey, its vice-president and a grandson of Gresley, objecting to the inclusion of the duck. The Society held a special meeting at which it was stated "we would have to keep the duck off the memorial if we wanted to keep good relations with the Gresley family". A further meeting to discuss the statue in March 2015 was attended by Godfrey and his brother Ben. Godfrey, who is a breeder of rare ducks, stated that "it’s a statue of a man, not a stupid duck". Godfrey also disputed that Gresley had any interest in ornithology and that the selection of locomotive names lay with the LNER naming committee and not solely with Gresley. Some society members stated that the duck "detracted from the dignity of the statue". During the meeting the council of the Gresley Society voted against including the duck, leading to the resignations of two of its members.
The decision led to disappointment for pro-duck campaigners. It led to what has been described as "possibly the most acrimonious argument in the long, pedantic history of the railway hobbyist". The dispute was covered in the national newspapers. "Steam Railway" magazine claimed it had made the Gresley Society "the laughing stock of the railway heritage world". A public petition to reinstate the duck for the "charm and wit" it added to the statue attracted 3,200 signatures, including those of Michael Portillo, Vanessa Feltz and Sir William McAlpine. McAlpine, a patron of the Gresley Society, said the duck showed the human side of Gresley and his wider interests and artists claimed it was an important attribute of the piece, providing a reference to the subject's significance.
A December 2015 election for the council of the Gresley Society saw strong campaigning for candidates who would support the inclusion of the duck. However at the meeting, non-members were barred from the room and unable to cast proxy votes for members, which the Society later claimed had been a mistake. The action was the subject of a formal complaint to the Charity Commission. Pro-duck supporters also lobbied Camden Council to insist on the duck as it was shown on the approved planning permission documents. Because of the duck issue the Gresley Society offered to return the donations of any of the supporters of the original fundraising campaign, but only one chose to take the offer up. The statue was unveiled without the duck, though many attendees at the event brought rubber ducks to demonstrate their opposition to the decision.