Queen Victoria

This blip is a nod to the excellent TV drama on tonight - Victoria. Probably like most people, my image of Victoria is of an elderly lady who 'was not amused' so it is very refreshing to see another side of her. Mind you, it has shown up my lack of historical knowledge about the early-mid 1800's.
Difficult decision tonight though as Poldark was on at the same time. Is it just me or are there some great new series on at the moment.

Two stories relate to the above statue. One is that she is missing her finger as a result of a stray bomb that fell on Reading during the war. A nearby building was hit and some debris flew off and hit her hand. I'm not sure about the truth of this as it seems a little unlikely that such specific damage would be done.
The other is that she is facing away from the town centre because she hated her visit here. The truth is that when Reading was just a stop on the newly built railway she was facing the station and could be seen by travellers from the comfort of their carriage. I found out recently that she never visited the town anyway. So much for local folklore!