Between a rock and a hard place

You can see the dilemma that's evolving. The once proud lion on King Robert the Bruce's shield is wearing away - only the paw is left on one of the legs. Other parts of the shield are also crumbling away.

The approach taken so far has been to attach new replacement 'bits' in place of the worn bits. But its producing a real patchwork job which begins to look more than slightly odd. A bit like the repairs to our potholed roads - they work for a bit but ultimately a more thorough repair is needed.

And so to the dilemma - the rock and hard place choice - how do you make sympathetic repairs and keep the character of the structure and in this economic age, how do you pay for it when funds are needed for so many deserving projects? Entry fees, donations, public subscriptions, corporate sponsorship etc etc?

It'll be worth keeping an eye on as this as King Robert is such an iconic statue for Stirling.