Open Country

How are the people of Cramlington reacting to the open cast mining in their area and to the creation of the largest replica of the human body in their landscape? Will it attract tourists and put Cramlington on the map or will they become the laughing stock of Northumberland? For this week's Open Country, Jules Hudson visits Cramlington in the north east where work has started on a giant sculpture of a naked woman which is to be carved into the Northumberland landscape. It will be made from 1.5 million tonnes of overburden from the Shotton open cast mine, near Cramlington. It will be 400 metres long and will stand higher than the Angel of the North. The sculpture, known as Northumberlandia, will form the centrepiece of a 29 hectare public park on the Blagdon Estate and, once developed, it is believed it will be the largest human form to be sculpted into the land, in the world. But these plans have prompted opposition from some, as did the plans for the open cast mine. From the car park of the Snowy Owl pub, J