By George Beccaloni (Chairman of the Wallace Memorial Fund)
The Usk Civic Society invited me to unveil a bronze bust of Wallace, which was to be installed on a plinth in the town square of Usk, Wales, Wallace's birthplace, on the 6th November 2021. I asked Bill Bailey, the Wallace Memorial Fund's Patron, whether he might find time in his hectic schedule to do the unveiling instead of me and to my surprise he kindly agreed. I gave a speech about Wallace's life and work instead.
I helped the Civic Society write a Press Release, which was sent out a few days before the event, resulting in a radio programme on BBC Radio Wales and articles in the Abergavenny Chronicle, South Wales Argus, BBC News, and The Telegraph. After the ceremony an article was published on the Welsh site golwg.
The ceremony attracted a fairly large crowd of c. 200 people and despite a short interruption when two trailors of sheep went by at the start of my speech, the event went smoothly and the rain held off. My speech can be read HERE and a video of the event can be watched HERE.
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Usk brass band |
Bill Bailey and the sculptor Felicity Crawley |
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George Beccaloni giving his talk, with Tony Kear left and |
Bill and George with the bust |
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Bill with the bust |
The bust |
