- Location: By Craighalbert Road, Cumbernauld, Glasgow, G60 3AS
- Opening times: 24 hours
- Entry: Free entry
- Access: Parking in adjacent residential area.
Arria is a colossal statue (33 ft / 10 m) overlooking the northbound carriage of the M80 at Cumbernauld. Her name is just one consonant away from aria, an accompanied song for a solo voice, which sounds appropriate, as, with her figure-hugging sequined dress, 1960s hairdo, and outstretched arms, Arria looks like she’s about to belt out a song. Cilla’s ‘Step Inside Love’, perhaps.
Arria was designed by sculptor Andy Scott, best known for the even more colossal Kelpies in Falkirk, constructed in 2010, and inaugurated in January the following year. Swooping arcs rise from the hem of her dress to meet with our upstretched arms, and this design reflects Cumbernauld’s original Gaelic meaning, ‘the coming together of water’. A second pair of arms – yep, Arria has four arms, making her appear like something from a Ray Harryhausen movie – stretch across the motorway towards the town centre. That Sixties ‘do, meanwhile, references the major development of the town in that decade. An original poem, ‘Watershed’, by former Glasgow poet laureate Jim Carruth is built into the base of the statue.
Arria by day and by night.
Incidentally, the statue’s name has nothing to do with music. It was proposed by sisters Louise and Bethany Reid, winners of a competition to name the statue, and they based the name on that of Arria Fadilla, the mother of the Roman Emperor Antoninus. The local connection is the Antonine Wall, commissioned by the emperor in 142 CE and the ruins of which lie just two miles from Arria.
Some of the town councillors apparently wanted the statue to be erected in the town centre, but it is estimated that close to a million people will see her per day in its current position, which aligns it closer to its intended aim of enhancing “the town centre and its environs for visitors and residents”. To many people driving by, Arria is Cumbernauld.
The statue is calling out for some road signs, brown or otherwise, as finding it can present a challenge. My satnav led me to a cul-de-sac on the opposite side of the motorway, and entering ‘Arria’ into Google Maps didn’t cut it either. It was only by entering the street nearest the statue, Craighalbert Road, itself a cul-de-sac, that I was able to find it.
Destination or Diversion?
While it is worth stopping to appreciate Arria up close, it remains only a diversion.
