In message i, Tom
Anderson writes
On Tue, 10 Feb 2009, Mizter T wrote:

I'm sure people will scoff, but my take on it is 'why not?'. The
Angel of the North was widely regarded as an extravagant indulgence
when it was being planned and built, but it has since won over a
great many of the sceptics and has become a genuine landmark.

To answer your question, because the Angel of the North was something
that had a deep connection, through being a huge thing made out of
steel, to the community around it, a community which has been through
hard times but maintained a strong sense of self, and was thus ripe for
the adoption of an icon. The Ebbsfleet Big Horse is just a big horse
[1], and is being built in a dormitory suburb of London.

Also, the Angel of the North is a visually striking object and an
interesting piece of engineering, even if you don't think it was value
for money. The big horse isn't even that - it's just a big horse. You
can get the same visual effect for a fraction of the cost by finding a
normal horse and standing close to it.

tom

[1] Yes, a big horse is the symbol of Kent, but if someone built three
hundred-foot-high scimitars in Chelmsford, i don't think i'd get
particularly attached to them [2].

Now you've managed to get me thinking, Tom.

I would quite like an enormous knot somewhere in Staffordshire. (A
pity Spaghetti Junction is next door in Brum!)

I suppose an enormous pear towering over the M5 in Worcestershire might
be okay, too.

A great big bear and ragged staff on the M40?

Any more ideas?

(By the way, there's already a large horse [eight legged, too]
overlooking the Midland Metro depot at Wednesbury.)
--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK

Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk