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A 39, Amulius, Bristol, Faustulus, Gaetano Celestra, Mendips, PoWs, Remus, Rhea Sylvia, Rome, Romulus, Wells, wolf, World War Two
It is very easy not to notice Romulus and Remus at the side of the busy Wells/Bristol road, at one of the highest points of the Mendip Hills. I drove by in ignorance for months after I moved to Somerset, until someone pointed them out to me. But only today have I actually found parking and visited them on foot.
It’s a sculpture created and given by some grateful Italian prisoners of war as they were released in 1945.
As I stood and read the plaque, I couldn’t help by be moved, even though I already knew the story. Perhaps it was learning the name of the sculptor that got to me. He settled in the area and continued working as a builder and stonemason.
Musiewild's blog 
Very moving indeed, it is heartening to know that sometimes British people rise to the occasion.
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WW2 provided many opportunities.
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That’s not something that you see every day.
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Indeed.
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Easy to pass the scupture without noticing it, so well done for stopping to see what the history was and passing on the stories, new and old.
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I’ve since learned that the it was given Grade II listed status recently, as a good example of mid-20th century sculpture.
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Hello,
Juste pour te dire que je viens de m’apercevoir que je ne pouvais pas “liker” tes blogs car il faut être inscrit chez WordPress, mais ne t’en fais pas, je les regarderai toujours ! Bisous Christine
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WordPress ‘has a mind of its own’ paraît-il. Une amie a eu du mal même à faire des commentaires, mais maintenant elle y arrive. C’est la première fois qu’on me dit qu’il faut s’inscrire pour ‘liker’ !
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Hi, are you aware that this Gaetano Celestra moved back to Italy after the war and later moved to Africa where he eventually settled in a small coastal village called Luderitz, in what is today called Namibia. Here he worked as builder and fisherman. He built himself a home and build another of these Romulus and Remus statues in his front yard.
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That’s fascinating! And all the more pleasing to me as I visited Namibia a few years ago. (And did blog posts.)
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