I had no intention of making a post on this first day of the new domain/blog name, most definitely not one from ‘Hyde Park’ either! However that soon changed when I spotted this huge inflatable bear from a passing bus! It was just being put up, this was about 17.30pm when I saw it hence the guys had spent perhaps the entire afternoon building the actual platform and had clearly begun to inflate and secure the bear.
General view of the Burberry Bear with the Marble Arch in the background
It’s actually a huge advertisement for Burberrys (and also in part one for London Fashion Week) featuring the Burberry mascot, Thomas the Bear. From what I understand it will stay here for a whole week. Despite its advertising the famous Burberrys Fashion Show, I was assured this would most definitely not be taking place at Marble Arch. As in past years this will probably be by the Albert Memorial in a huge show tent specially erected for the purpose.
The famous Burberry name is printed on just one foot
Burberrys has very recently been in the news in relation to the controversial burning of millions of pounds of fashion goods and they have reneged on that and promised to find different ways to dispose sensibly of their surplus fashion stock. The company is looking at ways to enable people to buy their surplus stock cheaply rather than incinerate the valuable goods. Its probably a sensitive time for the company thus the bear is a timely diversion from that particular controversy.
The B’s: Bear, bollard (actually the Legible sign), bronze sculpture, bin bag, bike and a bus!
Looking through Twitter, there’s just the one tweet so far!
SPOTTED: giant teddy bear at #MarbleArch #London ? Curious? pic.twitter.com/Yh4F5wCfkU
— Jennifer Crago (@JensMischief) September 11, 2018
The inflatable sculpture (for want of a better word) will be lit at night and most definitely brightens the rather dull patch of green within the Marble Arch island. Until Easter this year, that patch had been in use for eight months as the Marble Arch Theatre featuring Five Guys Named Moe. This was intended for only a couple of months run from last September. The performances were so solidly booked the temporary theatre’s tenure was extended twice, once to Xmas and again to Easter.
London Fashion Week advertising on the base
The guy who put up the decals for the LFW advert, and agreed to smile for the camera. Thanks 🙂
As I have mentioned earlier, despite the wording on the advert, Burberry’s will not be holding their famous fashion week show at Marble Arch. As one of the staff indicated to me, this is simply an advert and no more.
One of the workers posing for the camera
I mentioned Hyde Park at the beginning of this post. Some will say, well this part of London isn’t even part of Hyde Park! That’s correct these days, however it used to be part of Hyde Park many years ago. The park itself drew almost level with Bayswater and the bottom end of Edgware Road – not forgetting the Marble Arch was intended as a grand entrance to Hyde Park – complementing those other arches around Hyde Park Corner. This bit of Hyde Park right up at Marble Arch was lost in the sixties when the entire roads system from here to Hyde Park Corner was rebuilt.
Another look at Thomas the Burberry bear!
Update: Just a few other tweets today (12th Sept)
Go see the @Burberry Bear from now until next Tues at Marble Arch (next to the Arch)
6am – 11pm
Because it was hard to put up…in the rain…so go see it. And hug it. And take pictures of it!! pic.twitter.com/E1OfvO7tta— Tea 🇯🇲 (@TeaMsTee) September 12, 2018
Giant teddy bear Marble Arch 😍😍😍😍 pic.twitter.com/Zr5c2erU7I
— CFC TUCKER (@THE_CFC_MONK) September 12, 2018
One of my pics of the Burberrys Bear at night tweeted by Maida Vale News (so I dont have to process it for this post lol!) Actually she said “Oops so excited forgot to give your photo Credit. Sorry Me Bad.” 🙂
Good Night #MaidaVale, Sleep tight#ThomasBurberryBear pic.twitter.com/giMvpd1DwH
— MaidaValeMuse (@MaidaValeNews) September 12, 2018