Other

Following the Leader

Erection date: 1949

Site: Following the Leader (1 memorial)

SE11, Laud Street, Vauxhall Gardens Estate, Darley House

The full title 'Following the Leader (Memorial to the Children Killed in the Blitz)’ makes it clear that this relief is indeed a memorial. Two other nearby, similar Peri reliefs are not so named but we have collected them anyway for completeness. Everything below applies to all 3 sculptures.

Commissioned by the LCC, the sculptures together with the bricks around them are all Listed (Following, Footballers, Mother) but the rest of the buildings are not. The listings explain that in the 1930s Peri "pioneered the use of concrete as a medium for expressive sculptures and came to specialise in architectural reliefs in coloured concrete, developing ‘Pericrete’, a mixture of concrete with polyester resin and metallic powders." and that the "concrete {is} laid over an expanded metal mesh". Ornamental Passions has more to say about the technique.

We noticed that for all these sculptures the bricks in the wall behind are slightly differently-coloured, or cleaner, than those of the rest of the walls. The Listings explain: "According to the catalogue of a Peri exhibition at the Leicestershire Museum and Art Gallery in 1991, the composition was originally framed by dark coloured pointing to the brick to make it stand out from the rest of the surface but this has since been replaced with standard mortar."

All are described as being "mounted on the stair tower" but the towers look more like lift towers, added to the (probably) pre-war blocks after the war.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Following the Leader

Subjects commemorated i

The Blitz

During WW2 Britain came under heavy bombing from Germany for 8 months, 1940-1...

Read More

World War 2

Sorry, we've done no research on WW2, it's just too big a subject. But do vis...

Read More

Civilian deaths in London caused by enemy action

This page brings together all the memorials that we have for civilians killed...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Following the Leader

Created by i

Peter Peri

Born in Hungary as Ladislas Weisz. Moved to Berlin in the 1920s and became, t...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Gravestones in Launceston Place

Gravestones in Launceston Place

W8, Launceston Place, 34

Our researches have turned up just one clue, which may mean nothing: in John Fletcher's mid 17th century romantic comedy, ‘Women Pleased’...

1 subject commemorated
Moira Gemmill

Moira Gemmill

SW1, Millbank, Vauxhall roundabout

Our picture of the post-crash scene comes from the Evening Standard.

2 subjects commemorated
Police bricks

Police bricks

EC1, Myddelton Passage

Brought to our attention by View from the Mirror which has a very good, thorough post about these strange bricks.  The graffiti is appare...

1 subject commemorated
Joseph Grimaldi grave for dancing on

Joseph Grimaldi grave for dancing on

N1, Pentonville Road

Left - right: Dibdin - Grimaldi. 2018: we could not get the graves to produce any music but having now seen this Londonist video we need...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Flagpole

Flagpole

SE1, Jubilee Gardens

Our photo shows the 3 memorials in a line, from the back: flagpole, Dimmer, Skylon. Photos of this stretch of riverside just before the ...

3 subjects commemorated, 1 creator