The Angel of the North it ain't. New Brighton's 'iconic' statue has never been popular locally. Universally derided since it's unexpected installation during the reign of New Wallasey Regeneration, it was not the result of extensive consultation or linked in any way to a proud local history. This is how it probably happened: there was some SRB money around, maybe even earmarked for arts, and there was a deadine. One of the last desperate acts of a declining regime (correct me if I'm wrong).
I didn't start to like it until I saw THIS picture. I stole it from the http://www.writeoutloud.net/ webiste and don't know who took it, but I'd never looked at it from this angle before. And suddenly it isn't a pathetic, two-dimensional irrelevance - it's an ironic post-modern Citizen Smith raising his metal fist to the Mersey skies. It's poetry.
And it's Burns Night. So there has to be a poem. Here's an 'affectionate' tribue from local poet and comedian Jason Richardson. Enjoy!
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