The Angel of the North

I'm a bit behind in updating our blog. Not much has happened this week, but we did get out a little last weekend. We drove to Gateshead, Newcastle's "sister city" on the other side of the River Tyne, to see The Angel of the North, one of the most famous landmarks in our immediate area.

Because it's located just off one of the main highways (or "dual carriageways," as they say here), we have driven past this hard-to-miss sculpture a few times, but have never stopped before.

From the plaque at The Angel's feet: "The Angel of the North was commissioned by Gateshead Council and created by internationally renowned sculptor Antony Gormley. It is Britain's largest sculpture and believed to the be the world's largest angel sculpture. It is one of the most-viewed pieces of art in the world--seen by more than one person every second, 90,000 every day or 33 million every year. Work on the sculpture started in July 1997 and it was assembled on site seven months later in February 1998. The Angel was fabricated from 200 tonnes of weathering steel by Hartlepool Steel Fabrications, Ltd. on Teeside. It rises 20 metres (65 feet) and has a wingspan of 54 metres (175 feet), almost as big as a jumbo jet."

We also ducked down a little path that led off behind the sculpture. The leaves are turning, though it's still fairly warm--light jacket weather. Perfect weather for a mini-hike through the woods.

Check out more of Antony Gormley's sculpture here. Coincidentally, I watched a documentary a couple of months ago about Horizon Field (excerpt of that documentary below), an installation of Gormley's in Austria. Enjoy...