There are statues to be proud of

ALL over the country, people are questioning whether the statues they walk past everyday should be there.

In Wales, there are plaques and statues under review, or which have already been removed following the events of last weekend’s Black Lives Matter protest in Bristol.

The anti-racism protest on Sunday, June 7, saw the statue of slave trader Edward Colston torn down and thrown into the harbour.

On Wednesday, Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees said the statue would be retrieved and displayed in a museum alongside Black Lives Matter placards from the recent protest, so the 300-year story of slavery through to today’s fight for racial equality could be learnt about.

In Wales, there are statues of Thomas Picton, who was a “sadistic slave owner” and colonial governor of Trinidad, who authorised the torture of a 14-year-old girl.

A descendant of the Picton family said Cardiff’s statue of Picton in City Hall should be placed in a new museum of slavery, while both the mayor and leader of Cardiff council called this week for its removal. Similar calls have been made with regard to a statue of Picton in Carmarthen. And there have been calls to rename a shopping arcade in Swansea, also named after the slave trader.

While a number of statues are being reviewed, it’s worth noting that there are many in Wales we should almost certainly be proud to see retained.

One such is the statue of John Batchelor in Cardiff; inscribed on this monument are the words “Friend of Freedom”.

If you’ve walked through Cardiff, you’ve no doubt seen this landmark, albeit he was probably sporting a traffic cone on his head or some sort of Welsh rugby paraphernalia.

And while his statue takes pride of place in the capital city, Batchelor himself was from Newport.

Born there in 1820, 19 years before the Chartist Uprising, he left for Cardiff as a young man with his bother, a few years after the 1939 riot.

He then bought a timber and ship-building business in St Mary Street.

Batchelor was active in local politics. He was a Liberal councillor known for supporting movements like the abolition of slavery.

He went on to be elected Mayor of Cardiff and was known for challenging the Bute family, who built the docks and owned land in the city including the castle.

He was also known for becoming furious at the numbers in Cardiff dying daily of cholera, which forced construction of a life-saving sewage system.

It seems likely this is one statue that will remain standing while others around the country are toppled.