Cone or no cone?

I'm through in Glasgow today, delivering a seminar on health inequalities in young people's transitions from youth to adulthood.

I had a break between the seminar and my afternoon meeting so I'm sitting on the steps of the Gallery of Modern Art. I'm witnessing a bizarre sight. A tv crew and actors impersonating Glasgow City Council staff are repeatedly filming the addition, and removal, of the Wellington Cone. They've apparently been here over an hour doing take after take.

The equestrian Wellington Statue, featured with a traffic cone on its head is one of the city's most iconic images. The statue has been there since 1844, but the cone has only made appearances from the 1980s.

Glasgow City Council and the Police say that placing the cone is dangerous to the public, which it is, and costs the council about £10,000 a year to repeatedly remove it. Every time they move it someone replaces it. There were schemes to heighten the statue to prevent the cone practice, but it caused massive uproar. The petition against it said:

"The cone on Wellington's head is an iconic part of Glasgow's heritage, and means far more to the people of Glasgow and to visitors than Wellington himself ever has."

Is this a campaign to ask people what they want? I think I know the answer - just leave it where it is! It'll be interesting to see what the film is hoping to achieve. Who knows what that'll be...but it's kept me entertained anyway!

In other news, looking forward to dinner and drinks with Keri this evening. It's been ages since we've had a decent catch up.