One of the best-loved landmarks in Glasgow is the statue of the Duke of Wellington on his gee-gee outside the Gallery of Modern Art. He was the guy who defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. He was a Tory Prime Minister – twice – and Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. And how do the good people of Glasgow recognise his achievements? They stick a traffic cone on his head.
In 2013, the Council claimed it cost them 10 grand to remove the cone 100 times a year, but I don’t know what they’re on about as I’ve never seen the statue without the cone – sometimes even the horse has one on each ear.
They said it created a ‘depressing image’ of the city and they wanted to raise the plinth to make it harder for people to climb up. But that idea was nipped in the bud when a social media campaign showed the extent of public support for keeping the cone.
After you have your selfie or whatever with the Duke, check out the Gallery of Modern Art. It’s well worth a visit.
And if you want to know how the cone gets on his head, watch this video:
