Mundane pictures of the North

[farmerbarleymow]

I found this site of lots of old pictures of Manchester which has some good mundane ones. There is an inexplicable amount of photos of buses and planes, but hey ho.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/older_pics_of_manchester/pool/with/9048804407/

 

[tangerinedream]

For the steals lovers, here's a picture of the empty shop last week. Well, a white van in front of an empty shop, but you get the idea. It was below the 'boo bar' sign and union jack.

 

[tangerinedream]

I took a few mundane pictures today, this I think is the most mundane - it is spoilt by the blue plaque though, which lifts the view from the utterly insignificant and adds a little frisson. I didn't really notice at the time and don't actually know what it says. Seems an odd spot for one. Perhaps Killer B will know as it's a preston picture. (eta - google had the answer)

I laso thought this view summed up most places in the north which have a faded grandeur. Buildings which are achingly sad, quite imposing edifices, grimy single glazing and boards, spindly trees growing out of the roof, presumably rooted in gutters or something that haven't been cleaned for years, once industrially or commercially significant but reinvented time after time as bed centres or shit nightclubs, caked in layers of peeling paint with a once hopeful but now faded 'to let' sign signifying that not even the likes of 'sizzlers fried chicken' are interested in them.

 

[tangerinedream]

I should (in the interest of balance) add that the arcade I was standing in when I took this picture (i.e. the one above - sheltering in the entrance from a fine Lancashire summer morning) is one of my favourite buildings ever, not mundane at all....

and the Harris Museum round the corner is one of about 6 buildings in the world that Jonathan Meades actually likes. (and is an astonishing place)

(not my pics)

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I do like terracotta clad buildings - they age really well. There's a few in Manchester which are very handsome, but as such I can't possibly post them on this thread.

 

[machine cat]

Leeds has been very mundane today:

 

[tangerinedream]

Leeds has been very mundane today:

Excellent work. I let myself down with that last post. I'm glad someone has put the thread back on track.

 

[machine cat]

Excellent work. I let myself down with that last post. I'm glad someone has put the thread back on track.

I can't believe that I went to Leeds, took two photos, had a pint and then came back

 

[tangerinedream]

I had a trip to preston today and it was remarkable because I didn't bump into killer b which seems to happen most of the time I go to preston. I don't know why I can't capitalise preston. Maybe it's my new thing.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Leeds has been very mundane today:

Like the back alley - very nicely mundane, and slightly bleak which is an added bonus.

But can't work out which road the first pic is - its 17 years since I lived there, so hazy memory...

 

[machine cat]

Like the back alley - very nicely mundane, and slightly bleak which is an added bonus.

But can't work out which road the first pic is - its 17 years since I lived there, so hazy memory...

The Calls

 

[farmerbarleymow]

The Calls

Cheers!

I think it was the killer tower block in the background that threw me - that certainly wasn't there 17 years ago!

 

[machine cat]

'Motormania' - Huddersfield

The glory days have gone

 

[machine cat]

Cheers!

I think it was the killer tower block in the background that threw me - that certainly wasn't there 17 years ago!

Bridgewater Place? Fucking horrible looking building that creates a deadly wind tunnel. I was blown in to the road a few months back

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-21633206

 

[machine cat]

Just down the road from Motormania:

 

[killer b]

I had a trip to preston today and it was remarkable because I didn't bump into killer b which seems to happen most of the time I go to preston. I don't know why I can't capitalise preston. Maybe it's my new thing.

i was hiding from the rain.

 

[cyberfairy]

I can't believe that I went to Leeds, took two photos, had a pint and then came back

Just one pint? I went to Sainsburies on the pretxt of taking some photos of mundane things, then bought a bottle of gin and didn't take any photos and I became confused between the difference between mundane and really really fucking boring. I tried to take a photo of a tire in the river but I wasn't really feeling it y' know?

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Bridgewater Place? Fucking horrible looking building that creates a deadly wind tunnel. I was blown in to the road a few months back

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-21633206

I know - I remember reading about that poor sod who was flattened when a lorry was blown over in the wind that is mentioned in the article. I hope you've reported your incident to the council - the more reports they get the better.

I think I read somewhere there is some kind of campaign for legal action as the wind tunnel effect should have been accurately modelled prior to approval/construction? Knock the bugger down if it causes problems, and let the developers foot the bill as its their stupid building.

And yes, it is horrible looking - a giant taste bypass. That said, the Beetham Tower here in Manchester looks like someone has accidentally dropped a very long narrow piece of glass from the sky. Not exactly aesthetically pleasing design-wise. But at least its safe to walk past at street level*.

* apart from when windows have broken high up, and they have to hurriedly close the street below. Oops!

 

[killer b]

I should (in the interest of balance) add that the arcade I was standing in when I took this picture (i.e. the one above - sheltering in the entrance from a fine Lancashire summer morning) is one of my favourite buildings ever, not mundane at all....

it's splendid isn't it? a friend of mine was the caretaker for the arcade a few years ago, was always promising to take me for a wander round the upstairs (including the roof!) but we never got round to it. and then he left.

 

[lazythursday]

couple I took in Blackpool last week. Not sure if Blackpool is really ever mundane though, much too twisted a place for simple mundanity.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I became confused between the difference between mundane and really really fucking boring.

Much of a muchness really. I don't worry about fine distinctions - if it looks shit and/or boring its in!

 

[cyberfairy]

couple I took in Blackpool last week. Not sure if Blackpool is really ever mundane though, much too twisted a place for simple mundanity.

Blackpool is the only place I have ever been aggressively chatted up by some drunk men outside a pub at 10 am on a Sunday morning whilst I was walking down the road with a newborn child.

 

[cyberfairy]

Also, I wrote a blog piece ages ago about it that mentioned the word 'dogging' and now about 60% of traffic to my blog is people looking for places to go dogging in Blackpool A surprisingly large amount of people are very keen to do it and if I had any sense I would make a website devoted to the subject and earn some dirty cash. Skipton is also full of dirty fuckers.

 

[killer b]

I took a few mundane pictures today, this I think is the most mundane - it is spoilt by the blue plaque though, which lifts the view from the utterly insignificant and adds a little frisson. I didn't really notice at the time and don't actually know what it says. Seems an odd spot for one. Perhaps Killer B will know as it's a preston picture. (eta - google had the answer)

that's 2 minutes from my house! you could have come for a brew...

I laso thought this view summed up most places in the north which have a faded grandeur. Buildings which are achingly sad, quite imposing edifices, grimy single glazing and boards, spindly trees growing out of the roof, presumably rooted in gutters or something that haven't been cleaned for years, once industrially or commercially significant but reinvented time after time as bed centres or shit nightclubs, caked in layers of peeling paint with a once hopeful but now faded 'to let' sign signifying that not even the likes of 'sizzlers fried chicken' are interested in them.

the building on the right of the picture is the old odeon - closed 20 odd years ago a few months after the UCI opened on the docks - it was a much superior cinema, but only 2 screens (and somewhat down at heel). in it's pomp it was a magnificent building (much before my time, obviously). check it out:

 

[Fez909]

Wow, I used to work in Bridgwater Place and have never heard of experienced this wind effect. Crazy!

Horrible building indeed. A shit darlek.

 

[QueenOfGoths]

Also, I wrote a blog piece ages ago about it that mentioned the word 'dogging' and now about 60% of traffic to my blog is people looking for places to go dogging in Blackpool A surprisingly large amount of people are very keen to do it and if I had any sense I would make a website devoted to the subject and earn some dirty cash. Skipton is also full of dirty fuckers.

Oi! I'm from round there you cheeky blighter....mind you I left before I became a dirty fucker...that happened in Leeds

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Also, I wrote a blog piece ages ago about it that mentioned the word 'dogging' and now about 60% of traffic to my blog is people looking for places to go dogging in Blackpool A surprisingly large amount of people are very keen to do it and if I had any sense I would make a website devoted to the subject and earn some dirty cash. Skipton is also full of dirty fuckers.

The law of unintended consequences! That made me laugh

 

[cyberfairy]

Oi! I'm from round there you cheeky blighter....mind you I left before I became a dirty fucker...that happened in Leeds

I'm sorry you never got to experience the heady thrills of dogging in Morrisons carpark, Skipton All I wrote was that lovely as Skipton was, there was a surprisingly amount of dog shit to be seen. Dogging enthusiasts must have had their ardour somewhat dampened when reading about faeces and slightly disappointing vegetarian wholefood instead of where to get red hot public sex.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Found another pic of a gasometer, this time at sunset. I think this was one was at the Commonwealth Games site back in 2002.

 

[machine cat]

Just one pint? I went to Sainsburies on the pretxt of taking some photos of mundane things, then bought a bottle of gin and didn't take any photos and I became confused between the difference between mundane and really really fucking boring. I tried to take a photo of a tire in the river but I wasn't really feeling it y' know?

It was £3.20 a pint! Fuck that.