Travel insurance comes in many shapes and sizes to cover a wide range of issues from losing your bag to losing your life. It’s often reassuring to know that if something happens then there’s someone on the other end of a phone who can help sort things out and reimburse you (or your next of kin).
However, what travel insurance doesn’t give you is protection. It only kicks-in when something goes wrong; it doesn’t prevent something from actually going wrong. For that you need a Guardian Angel or similar. If you’re a believer of one religion or another then you might get one for free as part of the deal you have with your god or gods; you promise not to sin etc. and he, she or it provides protection. For Christians this might be St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael, St. Uriel, St. Sealtiel, St. Jhudiel or St. Barachiel depending upon which day of the week you were born, or it might be the more popular St. Christopher. Muslims have a similar concept. For Hindus there’s Ganesha, for Bhuddists there’s Jizo or Dōsojin … it’s a long and complicated list.
But what about non-believers? Well for us, though we’re prepared to share, there is Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North pictured above. It stands on a hill just outside Gateshead keeping a watchful eye on travellers using both the A1 road and the East Coast Main Line railway – two of the country’s principal north-south arteries. At 20 metres tall and with a wingspan almost 3 times that, the sizeable angel is visible from miles around. Weighing 200 tonnes it’s also a heavyweight angel – perfect for an increasingly overweight population!
The angel’s huge wings seem to embrace the observer, providing a feeling of protection and comfort like a portrait of St. Christopher or a statue of Ganesha for the believers. The steel design nostalgically reminds us of the area’s industrial heritage and the association with an afterlife might make us think about our own mortality and encourage us to lift our foot from the accelerator and drive that little bit more carefully.
If you happen to be passing by, break your journey for twenty minutes to get that rusty embrace and protective feeling close-up.
Where? The Angel of the North, Durham Rd, Low Eighton, Gateshead NE9 7TY. Angels aren’t reachable by telephone.
If you need somewhere to break your journey further north in the Scottish Lowlands, see Where … to time travel in Scotland.