Merchant Seafarers War Memorial 1996 Brian Fell Pierhead, Cardiff Bay Over the years, Tiger Bay and Butetown have provided a high proportion of Cardiff's merchant seamen.  Until 1997 there was no memorial in the area to the many who died in armed conflict.  Brian Fell's father was himself a merchant seaman and the sculptor has always been fascinated by his World War II stories of arguments aboard ship about methods of naval construction.  For these reasons Brian entered the competition for the memorial with eagerness and awe. Once Brian won the competition, he found the last surviving hydraulic workshop in Britain and taught himself this disappearing skill.  He used it to 'seam' steel sections, forming the face and ship's hull which give the sculpture two very distinctive viewpoints.  The noise which emerged from his studio during this part of the process attracted the attention of noise abatement officers.  A circular mosaic of Italian marble by artists Louise Shenstone and Adrian Butler carries the memorial's inscription and completes its setting.  On Armistice Day and the last Saturday in May - the date of its original dedication - veteran merchant seamen gather here for a service honouring those who lost their lives at sea.