Angel of the North

A blast from the past(ish)! I took this photo with my old Canon 350D in 2008 and while it’s been lurking on my hard drive since then, I’m pretty sure I’ve never actually shared it anywhere online and I have no idea why. So here it is, after 7 years.

Prior to the day when I took this photo I had only ever seen the Angel of the North from the road and I hadn’t paid much attention to it. I remember there being a certain level of controversy around it when it was commissioned and as with any interesting art, it was divisive. Some people loved it and others hated it. If you’d like to read more about its commissioning and construction, Wikipedia is a good place to start.

While house-sitting for friends who lived in Whitley Bay, my husband and I decided to visit the Angel. I have a weird discomfort around large humanoid statues (I cannot look at close-up pictures of the Statue of Liberty’s face and just thinking about the Spring Temple Buddha freaks me out a little bit) so I was expecting to feel somewhat uncomfortable in the imposing presence of the Angel. I didn’t. Instead, I found a grace and elegance in it, and a sense of gentleness and comfort. Standing below the span of its great wings was an awesome experience, in the truest sense of the word.

If you’re passing the Angel and you get the chance to stop for a while, you totally should. This gentle giant is well worth a visit.

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