GLASGOW SCOTLAND - The Duke of Wellington Statue and THE CONE! (Funny Video)

For those of you who have ever been fortunate enough to visit Glasgow, in west central Scotland, an iconic image will probably be forever ingrained in your memory. That image kind of sums up Glasgow and it's sense of humour for me. It represents a deep-seated disregard for authority and a belief that a good laugh (even at our own expense) is absolutely the best medicine.
I am of course talking about the statue of the Duke of Wellington, at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow city centre, and the perennial placement of a bright orange traffic cone on his head!



I know, I know... it sounds stupid.
It IS stupid! It is pointless and serves no function whatsoever... other than bringing a smile to the lips of thousands of Glaswegians and hundreds of thousands of visitors to our fine city.

Well, to cut a long story short, Glasgow City Council were getting fed up having to remove the cone approx twice a week, at a cost of around £10,000 per year, so they applied for planning permission to raise the height of the plinth that the statue resides on, to make it near impossible for revellers to place the cone back on top. A huge outcry followed, a petition, a facebook campaign.... the works! and within a few short days, tens of thousands of Cone supporters demanded that they leave it be, and the council has now backed down!

Link to BBC news article

VICTORY! LONG LIVE THE CONE!!

One thing was still puzzling though.... no one ever seems to see HOW the revellers get the cone up there!
It's very high (even without raising the plinth) and it's slippery bronze surface must make it extremely difficult to climb. Well now, a tourist has captured what has never been seen before... and it's astonishing!

LINK to VIDEO

Enjoy!
GTD

reply to post by Gordi The Drummer


the council are paying £10k / PA for cone removal ??????? WTF ??????? I would do it for £5k

edit to add :

simply raising the plinth by the amount stated would have negligible effect .

I think he looks better with the cone on his head. If only he had worn it at the battle of Waterloo.

This kind of thing happens all the time in Bristol, when I worked in town, nearly every morning some statue or the other would have a traffic cone placed on their head.

ignorant_ape
reply to post by Gordi The Drummer

 

the council are paying £10k / PA for cone removal ??????? WTF ??????? I would do it for £5k

edit to add :

simply raising the plinth by the amount stated would have negligible effect .

edit on 13-11-2013 by ignorant_ape because: (no reason given)

Aye, they are saying it costs £100 a time, approx twice a week...
When are we setting up "coneaway" cone removal services?? LOL

and YES raising the plinth wouldn't stop the cone! (But would probably cause more serious injuries to those conesters!)

PS - Did you watch the Video??? The Dukes Horse is VERY talented!!!!

reply to post by Cobaltic1978


It just HAS to be done Cobalt!
I reckon they should fit him with a permanent Bronze one? OR just LEAVE THE TRAFFIC CONE THERE!!!
Saving £10k a year, reducing the likelihood of injuries to the conesters, and keeping a smile on everyone's faces for FREE!!!

GTD

LMAO.......brill vid!
Still giggling....will be showing that to my son when he gets home!
Rainbows
Jane

Ha ha! Great video and hilarious story. Until I read this thread I always thought people from New Glasgow were called New Glasconeians. Hmm, how far off was I in actual fact, lol?

reply to post by aboutface


Hey About!
I think we'll have to call the Glasgow residents who place the cone on the Dukes head "Glasconeians"!
That'll do nicely!
"New Glasgow"?? Nova Scotia by any chance??

G

reply to post by Gordi The Drummer


Ha! That was a Freudian slip about New Glasgow. I did live in NS for a couple of years.

(When will I ever learn that in order for my brain to defog properly every day I should have all of 2 cups of coffee in the morning?)