Angel at 10

Before the Angel of the North was installed, people were forever getting lost while trying to find Audrey and George Charlton's house.

But since then the couple simply have to direct visitors and delivery drivers to look out for the iconic structure.

Their house lies in the shadow of the huge sculpture and having lived there for more than 20 years they are both pre and post-Angel residents.

George remembers watching it being put into place.

The Angel was erected in February 1998

"It was amazing how many people came to see it. There were so many people along there. It was amazing to see it happen," he said.

Good landmark

Audrey said when she first heard about the Angel she thought it might cause a lot of accidents with people taking their eyes off the road.

Both she and George said they would have preferred a more traditional looking Angel.

Audrey said: "It might have been better if it hadn't been so stretched out.

"But it is a bit special. It's a good landmark."

George said: "It's nice when you have been away and you come back and see the Angel and say you are nearly home. It's a nice feeling.

"It put Gateshead on the map. It's amazing how many people have heard about it."

The Angel attracts a lot of visitors

Shearer shirt

Both George and Audrey said they had become so used to seeing the Angel that they didn't really notice it anymore.

In the past they have had people coming by and asking if they could take photographs from their house or garden.

And both were surprised it had already been there for 10 years.

George said one of his favourite memories was when Newcastle fans draped a huge replica of Alan Shearer's number nine shirt over the Angel in 1998 in the run-up to the FA Cup final.

Another woman who lives near the Angel said she had also become so used to it that she hardly noticed it any longer.

She said: "I was a bit apprehensive at first. I don't think we realised how big it was going to be. But I don't even think about it now. You just get used to it.

"When they brought it I had never seen so many people along there, they came from all over.

"It wasn't what I expected. I expected it to look like an angel. But it seems to attract a lot of people."

She also said she had been apprehensive about the changes the Angel might bring.

"When we heard about it, we thought it was going to change everything, it's always been quiet here. But it hasn't changed anything. I never even look now," she said.

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