Mundane pictures of the North

[farmerbarleymow]

Pictures from Preston today. First up, the beautiful old Harris Museum and WTF! What one earth possessed them to tack on these bloody steps to a lovely old building? I know they use what looks like St Bees Sandstone on the sides, but they look bloody awful, and totally out of proportion to the building. Shame on them for allowing this excrescence to be built.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

A sexy concrete car park:



A very nasty concrete complex with all the charm of a turd. The lower bit having a faded Gala Bingo sign on the wall:



I think this is the opposite side of the nasty building above, and is a sort of shopping centre. Looks inviting to me with the prison-like protrusions on the roofline:

 

[farmerbarleymow]

A random collection of ugliness.







I like the shop name here - to the point and does what it says on the tin. It would be good if all shops were named like this - clothes shop, record shop, food shop, etc.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

 

[farmerbarleymow]

A sign of Preston's economic heyday? Apologies to the denizens of Preston.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Around the famed bus station. They clearly thought curves were the FUTURE when they built this complex - 'ooh, look at what we can do with reinforced concrete!'

It is scheduled for demolition I understand, but killer b will know more about the plans for this site.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

The exterior of the famed bus station. It is surprisingly clean-looking, given it is concrete. I wonder if it has been cleaned in recent years?



An inviting side bit as you walk towards the bus station entrance:



Interior:



A bit closer up. I like the inside of this - it is very dated and is like time travelling back to a simpler era. I like the dated signage too - it is nice and clear. I'm guessing this signage dates from the 1970s given the use of orange. It was the law to use orange and/or brown at every opportunity in the 70s after all!



A mundane office block opposite the bus station. Preston seemed to have had a love affair with concrete back when these sorts of buildings were constructed - 60s/70s time - the same as most towns and cities across the country.



Leaving the bus station. I like the curvy car park access ramp:

 

[cyberfairy]

Did you have a potato and parched peas from the man near the Harris? If not, you need to return! I have been down south so no mundane Northness

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Did you have a potato and parched peas from the man near the Harris? If not, you need to return! I have been down south so no mundane Northness

No I didn't - didn't even think of that as I was wandering around. Might have to make a return trip just for that!

 

[killer b]

the steps are temporary - just there for a month. the idea being that there's this huge balcony that's only used for civic occasions, that most of the people in preston have never been on, letting them use it for a while (and have some events around it). it's a nice idea, but i agree the execution is quite shoddy.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

the steps are temporary - just there for a month. the idea being that there's this huge balcony that's only used for civic occasions, that most of the people in preston have never been on, letting them use it for a while (and have some events around it). it's a nice idea, but i agree the execution is quite shoddy.

Glad its not permanent, and I understand the reasoning you've outlined, but as an outsider my blunt opinion is that it looks shit. What possessed them? They may as well have demolished the bus station and used bits of the concrete instead! Jarring is the word that springs to mind, albeit with the best of intentions.

But Manchester City Council is often no wiser in this regard of course. Although I was in the revamped Rates Hall of the Town Hall Extension today (they are refurbishing the whole complex, at a cost of around £170m) and it was truly lovely - a great civic space, and harks back to the olden days. I understand that this section of the building has not been public for years although I could be wrong as I always pay my council tax online.

I guess the museum is built of some variety of Pennine Gritstone (like the wonderful Millstone Grit), but I'm curious whether the sides of the steps are indeed St Bees. Do you know one way or another?

I'm tempted to do a photoshop job on Manchester Town Hall to see what those steps would look like!

 

[killer b]

It does look shit, and tbh thats what most people in Preston are saying too. it does seem to be working as the communal arts space its intended to be though - lots of people are sitting on the steps to eat their lunches, and the events ive swung by have been fairly well attended. So in one sense at least its been a success.

 

[killer b]

The sides of the steps are clad in wood btw.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I agree it seemed to be popular when I was there mid-afternoon. Anything that works is a good thing.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

The sides of the steps are clad in wood btw.

Bastard pretend St Bees Sandstone. The bastards!

 

[Frances Lengel]

A very nasty concrete complex with all the charm of a turd. The lower bit having a faded Gala Bingo sign on the wall:

View attachment 39797

One charming turd. I like it, me.

 

[janeb]

I used to work on the 8th floor of the office block opposite Preston Bus Station. And I stood on the real steps of the Harris during Guild '92. Great view from there. Harris museum is one of the best buildings in Preston, along with the Bus Station and St Walburges church spire.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

A typical field on the moors above Hebden Bridge:



An abandoned bit of farm machinery:



A mystery building with a rusty oil tank. A hodgepodge of different building types, all tacked together, but with no indication of what it is.

 

[cyberfairy]

Morecambe before the cold of reality of Winter sets in...

 

[farmerbarleymow]

The archetypal mundane Northern countryside picture - a field, a sheep and a dry-stone wall.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

One thing that amuses me about that sheep is that it looks like it is wearing a polo neck jumper.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

View attachment 39806

thought the last one looked like an ex cinema

from here

 

[bi0boy]

I ventured towards the North earlier this week.

This is from a church tower in Oxford, I think Birmingham is up there somewhere, just over the hill.

 

[neonwilderness]

the North

Oxford

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I know - I think he needs a geography lesson!

 

[cyberfairy]

 

[killer b]

went for a wander south of the ribble this afternoon, and found this abandoned mill (dark & satanic, of course)





inside, what the fuck is this? a generator?



and behind it, a huge fishing lake, complete with surly blokes fishing.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

That's a fine mill. I like the detailing on the first picture - the arches in relief in the brickwork. It looks like a style from either the 1920s or 50s to me - do you have any idea of how old the building actually is?

Could the yellow thing be a boiler or some other type of pressure vessel? The pipes leading into and out of it may suggest this. The three blue units on the right look like power controls, so presumably something electrical went on in this room. Depending on the factory, it could even be something like an industrial oven - or an auto-clave sort of device.

This is why I love pictures of abandoned old buildings - the guessing game of what the hell bits of machinery actually were for!

 

[killer b]

we think 20s, but i'm not totally sure.

one of my companions actually worked in there in the 1990s - they made surgical dressings.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

we think 20s, but i'm not totally sure.

one of my companions actually worked in there in the 1990s - they made surgical dressings.

Cheers - 20s makes sense. Surgical dressings strongly suggests the yellow cylinder could be an auto-clave, to sterile the products in batches.