Viscount Devonport wins battle to erect ‘giant toothpick’ in Queen tribute

Opponents of Viscount Devonport’s plan said that the sculpture in tribute to the Queen “would introduce an eye-catching but alien feature into a cherished landscape”
Opponents of Viscount Devonport’s plan said that the sculpture in tribute to the Queen “would introduce an eye-catching but alien feature into a cherished landscape”
NCJMEDIA

As one of the world’s most photographed, painted and sculpted people, tributes to the Queen have come in many shapes and sizes.

Now the biggest of them all, and perhaps the most opaque, has been given the green light in Northumberland, despite opposition from residents who fear it will be a “monstrosity” and a blot on the landscape.

Viscount Devonport has been granted permission to build a 55-metre steel landmark that has been likened to a giant “toothpick” as a tribute to the Queen, 95, and her Commonwealth.

The £3 million monument, which will be three times taller than the Angel of the North, will be built at Cold Law, a summit on Devonport’s Ray Demesne estate near Kirkwhelpington.

Its blade-like structure is intended to