Angel of the North

Drivers heading north on the A1 and passengers on the East Coast Main Line see it first: a rust-coloured figure 20 metres high on a grassy mound above Gateshead, its wings — 54 metres across and angled slightly forward — held out flat like the wings of an aircraft. Antony Gormley's Angel of the North was put up in February 1998, and an estimated 33 million people see it each year, most of them from a moving vehicle. The body is based on a cast of the sculptor's own, as in much of his work.

The site was chosen with care. The Angel stands on ground once worked by the Team Colliery, where miners dug coal for more than two centuries, and Gormley said he liked the idea of a figure of light rising where men had laboured underground in darkness. It is built from weathering steel, which forms a stable brown patina, weighs about 208 tonnes and is anchored by concrete piles reaching 20 metres down to rock, so it can withstand winds of over 100 mph. The ribs that run down the body and wings act as an outer skeleton, carrying the wind load to the foundations. Local councillors opposed the project fiercely in the mid-1990s; today it is the best-known emblem of the North East.

Up close the scale becomes clear: you can stand between its feet, touch the steel and look up at the underside of the wings. Trees planted around it since 1998 have made the setting more enclosed than it once was. There is a small car and coach park beside the mound and footpaths lead up from the surrounding streets.

Getting there

The Angel stands at the southern edge of Gateshead, about 4.5 km from Felling, beside the A167 near its junction with the A1. Go North East bus 21 ('The Angel') runs frequently from Eldon Square bus station in Newcastle and from Gateshead Interchange, taking roughly 20 and 10 minutes respectively. Newcastle International Airport (NCL) is about 15 km away.