Showing posts with label Duke of Wellington. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Duke of Wellington. Show all posts

Apr 1, 2016

Traffic Cones

This sounds like another April Fool's Day joke, but it is not. Scotland spends $15,000 per year removing traffic cones from a statue's head.

The government is having a problem with revelers messing up a historic statue in the most hilarious way possible. In Glasgow, there is a statue of the Duke of Wellington. For the last several decades, this statue has been at the center of a bloodless battle between Glasgow City Council and the local drunkards, the latter of whom love nothing more than climbing the statue and placing a traffic cone on its head.

After years of being climbed, the statue has lost its sword and spurs. The cost of removing these cones is running up an annual bill of 10,000 GBP of taxpayer's money and, embarrassingly, the defaced statue is becoming a tourist attraction in itself.

As a result, Glasgow City Council planned to raise the statue's plinth (base) to such a height that the inebriated would not be able to reach anymore. However, thanks to a petition from local residents, the proposal was shot down.