c2c: The Angel of The North

Tim and I set off on a fabulous Sunday morning, on the very cusp of spring - the day after the clocks went forward - for the iconic Angel of the North. In my six years in the North East, I'd never actually visited it, despite it being a bus ride away (on the #21, even from just outside our house), and I had always wanted to. I think it's wonderful.

It's 13 miles from where we live, so this was the biggest trip so far. But in perect weather - sunny, but not too hot - we relished it.

Although we got lost a bit by the A1 - essentially ending up on the wrong side of it, but finding a route courtesy of someone's farm in Wrekenton to get back on track; there's a much easier route through Birtley, for future reference - we arrived an hour later, which is not a bad time at all, given the hills - several of them unintended.


And it really is brilliant up close.

200 tonnes of weathered steel, 20m tall, and with a wing span of 54m...



Apparently, Anthony Gormley insisted that there be no concession stand or merchandise stall at the site; it is a public sculpture and a work of art.

Why an angel, you may have wondered? Well, in the great man's own words...

Glasses off, eyes being dabbed...