Angel of the South

[ionnsaigh]

Giant £2,000,000 horse - to become the new landmark in Kent.
As we have our own horse ( cheap at the price ) I wonder what type of giant statue would be suitable for Kintyre?

[ionnsaigh]

Perhaps a starving child in rags, a begging bowl in an outstretched hand facing England.
Or maybe a giant Erse.

[NelsonL1995]

Perhaps a starving child in rags, a begging bowl in an outstretched hand facing England.
Or maybe a giant Erse.

[Beachcomber]

I saw the piece on the giant horse for Kent on the TV news.

It thought it looked hideous, and they said it would be around 150ft high!

[Tosh]

I saw the piece on the giant horse for Kent on the TV news.

It thought it looked hideous, and they said it would be around 150ft high!

Or 450 hands

[ionnsaigh]

Admittedly when I saw the model, I thought it looked like a badly designed, motionless toy. However when you see the sheer scale of the statue - my initial misgivings soon dissipated. I now think it will look absolutely stunning - and hopefully bring plenty of tourists. Aye anyway, Campbeltown has the ancient cross, with much more history attached - pity it has never been a crowd puller - not in the same league as the white plastic ( Trojan Horse )

I would love to see something on a similar scale in Scotland. Mmmmm - What would be appropriate for Kintyre?
One of my favourite statues in Glasgow, is the Heritage and Hope sculpture in Atlas Square Springburn. (fantastic stuff)
Back to Kintyre and it's people fish wood sea boats coal whisky water wind golf wildlife beauty mmmm I wonder.

[EMDEE]

Those who want to build this incongruous overstated sculpture in the Kent countryside must think that the natural topography and beauty of the area in not enough on its own to impress visitors, and they may have a point. Needless to say, it is, and will be, a talking point for locals and visitors.

Kintyre, and indeed the West Coast of Scotland in general does not need massive artificial structures like this to give the scenery a boost. The scenery can speak for itself.

We already have the windfarms!

[Bitter End]

Ions -- Check this out --- it should fulfill your wish !!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tay ... 483653.stm

[ionnsaigh]

Well, we also have McCabe's folly - can you see it from your window EMDEE?
I and many others associate this incongruous overstated folly, with Oban. Absolutely nothing to do with attempting to add too, the natural beauty of the place. However there appears little, or nothing wrong in an added attraction, through art. The City of Paris, thankfully never adopted the attitude of ( Disney-Land ) spoiling, or competing with the Architectural magnificence of inner Paris. The reality of the matter is your adopted town, already has a large incongruous structure. Campbeltown and Kintyre don't.
I think that we can all safely say that, Kintyre requires some form of input, one that would attract investment - albeit the dreaded tourist. A large Celtic type structure - depicting a land swept clean of people in the Clearances - facing in the direction of long lost love ones - may be an appropriate emblem - to the empty land of the Kintyre peninsula.
Perhaps we are too conservative - that auld Presbyterian sin of excessive puritanism, when it comes to celebrating beauty by art - statues or other.

[EMDEE]

It's not my place to try to justify the existence of McCaig's Tower, sometimes known as McCaig's Folly. Here's a bit of the history relating to John Stuart McCaig and his edifice:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCaig%27s_Tower

You can make up your own mind whether he was a philanthropist or a fool.

[ionnsaigh]

Sorry my dyslexia got in the way there, of course it's McCaig's Tower - Folly. Try asking next month, it will revert back to McCabes. However the structure exists - like it or lump it - not only has it has become associated with Oban, it has enhanced the image. See what I'm trying to convey, is that such a structure - however monstrous - would become a national attraction.
Thereby bringing much needed income into Kintyre.
I'm reminded of Luss village on the banks of Loch Lomond - heaving with the fans of that Scottish soap " Take the high road ".
This proved for some folk in the village - the hen that laid the golden egg.

[EMDEE]

My favourite over the top edifice is the Scott Monument in Edinburgh. The Scott Monument in your own home town of Glasgow, although impressive, pales into insignificance in comparison.

I don't know if this landmark brings any additional tourism to the city, but it must be one of the most "monumental" memorials to any author or writer anywhere in the world, if for no other reason, that it is built of stone, and it would be completely out of the question financially to build anything on this scale nowadays. Come to think of it, how many people from all over the world who have seen this monument actually know who it commemorates, never mind read his works.

There are some interesting facts about the designer of this monument, George Meikle Kemp. He was not an architect, he was a carpenter, and submitted his plans incognito as he did not have the credentials to be treated seriously because of this. His design, however was accepted. Kemp did not live to see his design made into reality, as he died in a drowning accident in the Borders where he lived, before the monument was completed.

[ionnsaigh]

My god man, your a wealth of knowledge

Yes I would have to agree that Glasgow's Scott's column, is a poor second cousin to it's Edinburgh counterpart. When I was a wee boy, I thought it was Nelson. I found the facts surrounding the architect George Kemp highly interesting, I had no idea. It just goes to show how human nature and love of a subject, can overcome societies demands for qualifications through structured learning. If you get my drift.

Back to Glasgow's many landmarks, I remember putting my hands round the cold bust of ( I don't know who she is ) atop of the City Chambers in Glasgow.
Here is two wee questions for you, re- landmarks in Glasgow - I'm sure you will get them no bother.
We have part of a statue that moves in the wind. What part, what statue, and where?

We have another statue with the inscription " Better to die on your feet than live on your knees forever "
What and where? This latter one has particular meaning to myself - both where it is situated - and it's meaning.

Back to Edinburgh. I had the privilege of seeing Kemp's masterpiece at close quarters - thanks to the big wheel ride, they had over the Christmas period.

[LANDROVER ROGER]

Why not contact Michelin.They would possibly build a massive `kin tyre.

[Bitter End]

Ions your movin statue used tae staun at Glesga Cross an noo at Cathedral Squere . Aye ye can swing oan the brutes tail
an a Roman Emperor oan its back --naw its yon King W. o Orange himsell. Ah dinna ken tuther yin tho !!!