Cumbernauld’s Guardian Angel is All Woman (which adds up to 33 feet of steel)

They will not pass

Laura McLuckie is impressed by a lady who weighs in at 33 feet of steel in a town that would make you want to cry.

It’s been likened to Kabul, called the most depressing city in Scotland and even won the Carbuncle award for poor architecture, but Cumbernauld  is trying to shake off its dismal image in a novel way.

At 33ft tall and made of steel, Cumbernauld’s very own ‘Angel’ shows off her womanly form to all motorists travelling along the A80. Like a glimmering giant superhero, Cumbernauld’s ‘Joan of Art’ perhaps?

Has it come to that? When the only thing that can make a town seem bearable is a curvaceous giant woman to distract passers by? Of course it is, women are the be all and end all, we all know this…

But this sculpture, designed by Andy Scott, has caused more controversy than delight. Commissioned by the Campsies Centre Cumbernauld Ltd (CCCL), the company set up to aid the redevelopment of the town, it cost a whopping £250,000!

Not only that, the decision to place it on the motorway so over 70,000 people will see it each day, has caused two members of the CCCL to resign, arguing that it should be in the centre of the town.

But would that make a difference? Is Cumbernauld turning over a new leaf, or just in turmoil? Perhaps not even a giant woman can save it now.

So what do you think? Should the big lady save Cumbernauld or sit on it? Comments welcome.

Laura, our video production director, is quite wee. But she can be more frightening than any big yin.

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Tags: architecture, Cumbernauld