Last month my car was mistakenly towed away by Southwark Council. They gave it back to me free of charge, but I had to go the the council car pound on Mandela Way. Whilst walking from the tube, I came across this T34 tank. This was a bit baffling: it stands in a patch of grass by the side of the road with no indication about why its there what it is. It turns out that it is privately owned, apparently still functional (it had a supporting role in Ian Mckellen’s Richard III) and has been twice repainted, most recently in its attractive zebra motif. A previous, pink incarnation may have been a reference to Prague memorial to Soviet tank crews, painted pink as an act of protest in 1991. (Hat tips to Transpontine and the Independent).
Since I got the car back, it’s been broken into, ineffectively hotwired but, bearing in mind the cost of repair, written off. So the idea of a tank as a means of London transport seems increasingly attractive.
April 12, 2007 at 10:44 pm |
I used to live in the converted schoolhouse right behind the tank, doing research for my dissertation at the IWM.
It just appeared there one day, much to my mystification. The best moment was when a Southwark traffic warden gave it a parking ticket.
April 17, 2007 at 5:52 pm |
[...] I’ve just remembered that I saw a T-34 in a farmyard near Ely. Dan Todman also saw a T-34 [...]
April 30, 2007 at 2:27 pm |
I have seen this before, in a modelling magazine. It is owned by one of the local house owners and has had it there for eseveral years. It is nice to see it painted know thought. A new type of urban camoflage!!