Friday 19 February 2021

Sorry....

 ...for the gap in proceedings - two days without blogging.   My excuses - I felt a bit off colour (back to normal now) and nothing of interest to write about.   I have just spent an interesting hour reading through all  your blog posts in those two days.   Isn't blogging a wonderful pastime?   I seem to have built up such a huge circle of friends, most of whom I shall never see, and yet I feel I know them, I know their ideas  and feelings (in so far as they tell me in Blogland) and I look forward to an almost daily chat with them.   Every single one of you brightens my day and I thank you for that.

I see  in today's Times, on The Arts page, that Viscount Devonport wishes to build a giant modern sculpture on his land.   He has a vast estate in Northumberland and - on the summit of Cold Law - a hill near the Scottish Border he would like to put a weathered steel monument higher than Nelson's column as a tribute to the North's Industrial Heritage and as a tribute to HM the Queen and the Commonwealth.   The monument is to be made by Simon Hitchens and will be paid for entirely by himself and his backers.   Now Northumberland county council are strongly objecting  that it will be a blot on the landscape.   I must say that in the mockup it does look to me like a huge sail.   I rather like it.  It is after all on his own land and in no way using public money - I can't see that it is any more of an eyesore than wind farms (two are planned for the area).   I seem to remember that people made a fuss about the Angel the North but now it is regarded as a real icon of the North.   Apparently this statue will not be seen from any of the villages round about.

**Please don't take it from this that I object to wind farms - the more the better - that is the future.

Back tomorrow I hope and fighting fit.


 

 

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25 comments:

Debby said...

So happy to see you back! I am glad that there has not been another fall

JayCee said...

I hope that you feel better tomorrow. Take care x

Susan said...

One has to make the best of any outing these days. I rarely wore make up pre Covid but currently you won't find me leaving the house without mascara and eye shadow. All the best for your medical issues. My ticker is playing up but a chat with my wonderful GP has calmed me considerably. There is a long history of landed gentry creating follys (not sure if that should be follies). As you say it is his land to do with as he wishes.

Derek Faulkner said...

Wind farms are an awful blot on the landscape and have ruined many a scenic view. If we must have green energy let it be solar panel farms, they are far less intrusive and difficult to see from a distance. Here on Sheppey we have a number of huge wind turbines that everybody can see from anywhere on Sheppey and yet we also have to solar panel farms and I doubt that 50% of the population even know that they are there.

thousandflower said...

I think the sculpture looks interesting.

CharlotteP said...

It's reportedly proposed to be 3 times the height of the angel of the north, which I love. It looks much like a giant crane arm to me...Though it is his land now, the thing will be there many years after Lord Devonport is gone. MUCH prefer the hill without it, and can't help thinking the 1m pounds could be far better used to honour the Queen and Commonwealth, if that is what he intends. Bah humbug!

Heather said...

We all have off days - I had one yesterday too. Glad we are both feeling better today. I haven't seen any pictures of the planned sculpture but think I would prefer a natural landscape left natural. However, I don't live in the area and have no right to say one way or the other, but I tend to agree with CharlotteP that the 1m pounds could be put to much better use.

Sue in Suffolk said...

Good to see you back. Hope you feel much better now.

Take care

Bonnie said...

It is wonderful to see you. I agree with you that blog friends mean so much. For many of us these days our blogs are almost our only social contact with others. I really enjoy just reading about friend's everyday activities as it is kind of like visiting with a neighbor over the fence.

Have a good evening Pat!

justjill said...

I agree re the blog reading. Highlight of my day is catching up with all my 'friends' doings of the day. Glad to hear you my friend are fine.

Carruthers said...

I'm with the council on this one. It's important to have some spaces that are free from intrusive erections.

The Angel of the North is in a place already surrounded by major roads, tower blocks, housing estates, etc. Where possible I think wind turbines should be put in similar places.

Rachel Phillips said...

I remember when I first saw the Penshaw Monument, I loved it. Another folly of the North. Never seen anything like it my life.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Charlotte P - three million, not one million.

Susan said...

We all have an off day, I'm glad you are okay now. Private funding a sculpture on private land sounds fine. I also support wind turbines. When in Palm Springs, CA I saw a wind turbine installation that went on for miles. Seeing the blades on the turbines shift with the wind was very impressive.

Sharon in Surrey, BC said...

Nice to see you back once more. You're part of my morning routine!!

Anonymous said...

Glad you are feeling better; as you can tell we worry when you take days off. The perils of being an interesting friend to so many.

ceci

Joanne Noragon said...

Good you are feeling up to us again! And I hope the sculpture comes to fruition.

Mary said...

Yes, you were missed and I was a bit concerned!
We all care about you and each other - that's just wonderful when you think of it, and we have to thank Blogger - after all we do call them not so nice names some days!

I would like to see the sail sculpture after it's built - I wish him luck.
Take care dear Pat.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

Glad to hear it was nothing serious. I'm not a great fan of that particular piece of sculpture but it's no worse than some of the monuments erected on hills by our Victorian ancestors.

Jules said...

It's good to see you back, Pat. I'm glad you're feeling better. X

Jennyff said...

Glad to have you back, hope you are fully recovered now. I am not against the monument, we have a beautiful modern Madonna on the top of our mountain here and no wind farms though a large landfill site in the valley has been levelled and covered with acres solar panels. The problem with wind farms in the infrastructure, new roads to the site and large concrete foundation pads that will be there on the hillside long after the blades stop turning.

thelma said...

Not sure either way. It is to be Summer Solstice aligned and made out of a deep respect for our Queen. But it is a blot on the landscape and most of our institutions like to keep landscape clear and building kept within strict boundaries. Or isn't it just a vanity show piece I wonder, something to leave behind after Lord Devonport's death?

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks for your view- mixed as I expect is that of most of the population.

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