It's WORKMATE

Dear Reader

My, it’s been an out-and-about, here-and-there few weeks. We’ve been working on a piece, for a client who finds interesting land for development. Just as it is about to be off to print another major project comes along, that might be worthy of inclusion. This time it’s up north, in the Spennymoor, Sedgefield area of County Durham.

Coincidently, we were visiting Lindsay’s Father at the weekend and it made sense to check this new hotspot out, as it was on his doorstep. Turns out it is the old Black and Decker works and is an interesting urban regeneration story which Lindsay will enlighten you on if you ask her. As she went off to have a look at the tool shop, I hiked up the road a few miles to visit The Angel of the North.

Ah. What a vision. It is one of the most looked at pieces of art in the world, big too - with a wingspan wider than a Boeing 757 and enough steel in him or her to make 16 double decker buses or 4 Chieftan tanks.

As we’re talking ‘developments’, this spot was, in the old days mining land. Gateshead had the most productive coalfields in the world. 400,000 tons were shipped from the Tyne in 1625 and one family the Cole’s (nice) made their fortune at it. Today Antony Gormley’s Angel occupies the area, but my-oh-my was there a fuss when the idea became public knowledge. The locals and press ran a campaign against it, as a crackpot scheme ... Big, brash, banal ... Hell’s Angel ... It puts Gateshead to shame ... Gives the rest of the country another chance to ridicule the North-East ... The birds will have somewhere to shit ... Give it to London because they’re shite.

Well, well! But once the Angel was put up there was a change of heart. During erection day, people came in their thousands with dogs, children, cups of tea and it’s been pulling them in ever since.

It’s amazing what an effect a structure can have on an area don’t you think? Before the Angel went up over 83% of the locals recognised the name and what it was. Now 11 years on, we all do and it is now part of the N-E culture and something absolutely to be proud of. I wonder can buildings ever hope to stand for this? Be so emotive? Perhaps we should think of them more as ways to communicate and engage with people rather than fit in and doing the rational stuff.

Anyway another week, another monument, what a job!

Alphonzo x

Cultural Attaché to Lindsay Deering