THE MARTIANS INVADE WOKING

23 feet tall, standing on three spindly legs, the Martian pauses to look for its next victim... no, we're not in an SF movie but in the commuter town of Woking, south of London.

Woking was the home of H G Wells, 100 years ago, and the nearby village of Horsell was the setting of his book War of the Worlds. To commemorate the town's fleeting fame - it gets destroyed in the first few pages of the book - the local council have commissioned a sculpture of a Martian which now stands proudly in the town centre.

Photos of the Martian

The Martian is accompanied by the cylinder which has crash-landed into the town centre.

Photo of the cylinder

Thanks to Barb for taking the photos.

The sculpture is the work of artist Michael Condron. For more information see his website at http://www.mcondron.co.uk. It includes information about sculptures he has done for other towns.

And speaking of Martians... As part of the Federation Christmas List, Bella reviewed an album by Jeff Wayne which tells the story of The War of the Worlds.

War of the Worlds review