This week was the 25th Birthday of the Angel of the North, the giant statue by Antony Gormley, located in Gateshead 10 minutes drive away from where I live. Completed in 1998, it is believed to be the largest sculpture of an angel in the world and is viewed by an estimated 33 million people every year due to its proximity to the A1 and A167 roads and the East Coast Main Line. The steel sculpture is 208 tonnes, 20 metres (66 ft) tall, with wings measuring 54 metres (177 ft) across and its wingspan is often compared to that of a Boeing 757 jet, which is actually smaller.
I pop up there now and again when I want a quick photgraphy fix, so a few weeks ago I went up on a blue sky day and took the Contax Aria with me. The film I had in was a Cinestill 400D. For any film photographers reading this….
“CineStill Film celebrated its 5th birthday in 2017, having quickly developed a fantastic reputation world-wide for their innovative approach to fulfilling analogue needs. They are specialists in converting rolls of cinema film – designed for movies and hence the name CineStill Film – into batches of 35mm and medium format film that can be used in thousands of cameras, and developed in any minilab in the world. Their passion is for everyday photographers who buy CineStill film to have the same access to high-quality emulsions as Steven Spielberg, Wes Anderson, Martin Scorsese, and The Coen Brothers!”
from Analogue Wonderland.
There are some hedges and bushes or trees at the bottom of the hill that the Angel stands on, and people leave messages to their dead relatives and loved ones on the branches.
I took some shots there in 2016 not long after people had started doing that, and the only thing I could find that was there now is this Teddy Bear
How sad is that?
That’s it this week, but
📷 🎞️ 😊
fragglefilm 
there it is!
i was interested to see those memorial shrines nearby when i visited last summer – i think those must have started appearing some time after my previous visits way back in 2000 and 2007 as i don’t recollect them being there then
✨🦋🐍🕊🐉🗝⚖🕯🤍⚛🎐🎋🙏✨
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I’m not sure when they started Graham, I started going in 2005 and they were not there then as you say.
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Sometime prior to 2015, it seems…
https://assemblymoderators.urc.org.uk/under-the-wings-of-the-angel/#:~:text=In%20the%20bushes%20nearby%20a%20memorial%20garden%20has%20sprung%20up.
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Thanks for the link!
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😌🙏✨
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Love the angel..only saw a glimpse of it once from the London tu Ed train. The film sounds interesting…how do you find its compared to other film?
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It has some characteristics other films don’t have, especially halation of highlights though they’re not apparent in this set. It has a different feel to my usual Kodak/Fuji films, but it is a tad more expensive!
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I wonder what future archeologists will make of it all.
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If they have the internet they’ll be fine, lots of info on how it was made, and what it represents. But if we’re talking hundreds of years perhaps only it’s head will be poking up through the ground!
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I was thinking about all the baubles and the tinsel and the odd eye of a teddy. The rest will presumably rot away, but they’ll survive.
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Ah right. Yes, I suppose if people keep adding things there’ll still be fresh memorials, depends how far in the future our archaeologist exists.
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Fascinating – I wonder if because we tend to cremate our loved ones these days rather than burying them, people still need a place to visit them, so these shrines pop up everywhere. Lovely pics, the bear looks very sad 😦
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I think that must be why, the bears made me sad. Cheers Steve.
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That bear was SAAAAAAAAD.
😦
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I know 😔
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I thought they picked up the bears and stuffed animals at shrines like this and donated them to charities. Leaving them out to be destroyed seems wasteful. Not as mean as writing a bad review of Paddington 2, but still pretty awful.
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I don’t think anyone is in charge of the memorial bit, it happened quite organically so I suppose if you put a bear there then turn up next week and it’s gone, you’d be a bit peeved. Still, it was a lovely bear and didn’t deserve this ignominious fate.
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Ffs, whose dude are you on, Bunty!? Looking at you, Ebeneezer…
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Is there a Bunty Bear toy? What does he look like?
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There’s a Bunty dog and he’s a Scottish terrier!! I’ve got the badge!
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You need to post a pic sometime!
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I did already
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We would see that when visiting my stepson at Sunderland University. (He was a mature student) I really like it!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Me too! Cheers Pete!
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They have wishing trees in Scotland. Much better.
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I like that idea I’m going to make one.
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I love the Memorial Tree. I had no idea of the age of the angel. Seeing the people standing in front fit really puts its size in perspective.
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Cheers Mae!
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Amazing! And will stay tuned! Enjoy your weekend.
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Thanks M, you too!
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You’re welcome!
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A very peculiar sculpture, that has elicited a surreal landscape of mementos and wishes. Thank you, fragglerocking : )
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Thanks Francis!
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