Grey is described as "pensive". Baily also made 30 miniatures of the statue out of plaster, possibly intended as souvenirs. During a thunderstorm on 25 July 1941, the head of the statue, which weighed around , was knocked off by a bolt of lightning and fell onto the tram lines below the monument. One of the statue's arms and a portion of the cloak were also damaged. The Newcastle Estate and Property Committee agreed that the statue would not be repaired until after the Second World War, but the head would be retained and restored. In 1947, sculptor Roger Hedley created a new head based on the preserved fragments of the original. Inscriptions The main inscription on the south side of the pedestal was added in 1854 and was most likely written by Sydney Smith. It was installed by the Red Barns Marble Works of Gibson Street, Newcastle. On the opposite face is a later inscription from 1932, installed at the request of Sir Charles Trevelyan, 100 years after the passing of the Great Reform Act. The words of the inscription were written by Edward Grey. Critical and public reception After the monument was completed it received praise from contemporary artists and writers. A column in The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction in 1838 wrote that the statue "is a faithful representation of the noble Lord,—and esteemed a fine imaginative work of art". Also in 1838, The Spectator described the statue as "equal to any of Chantry's [sic]". Writing in Bradshaw's Journal in 1842, Alex Falkner wrote that the statue, "when seen from the centre of the street, has a most commanding appearance". In 1867, the author T. Fordyce described the statue of Earl Grey as "a noble effort of genius" which reflected "the highest credit on its accomplished author, Mr. Baily". The monument was not universally acclaimed and it received criticism which lasted into the latter half of the 19th century. After the column was erected in August 1838, The Newcastle Journal wrote "Whatever may be the character of the Column as a work of art, it is certain that in its present situation, it will be a great nuisance, and that at no distant day its removal to a less objectionable site will be called for by the public". In 1857, a writer local to Newcastle wrote "the monument to Earl Grey is, to my mind, a