The Destruction of Empty Buildings Betting Game

[boohoo]

Reading in my local rag, that another historic building in Hackney "accidently" burnt down.The following link mentions the history of the building, how it had been sold and how the new owners had not been allowed to pull it down (it is listed).

http://www.derelictlondon.com/st_mary_s_lodge_stoke_newington.htm

And now, solving all the problems of the owners, there has been a very bad fire!

The other year, the old department store in Hackney had failed to reach it's auction price and then, surprise, two weeks later, fire destroys it ( http://www.derelictlondon.com/london_s_burning.htm - hackney photo by me)The back buildings, then had another arson attack completely clearing another large area.

So I'm now deciding which building I think will be burnt down next - there is a big listed house on Mare St which has recently been auctioned. There are plans to turn it into luxary flats but no work has started. Give it a year and then we might have a surprise fire! Also old Dalston theatre is another great canididate as well as the run down terraces of Dalston lane. Both are causing developers problems!

 

[marty21]

i heard about the latest fire, sounds well dodgy, as did the gibson brother department store which burned down, as you say, a few weeks after not being sold

mind you, this isn't just a hackney thing

when i worked in notting hill, i watched the facade of a church collapse, the contractors who were converting it into loft style apartments were supposed to maintain the facade....it was actually cheaper to rebuild the facade in the same style, than maintain the original one, and hey presto, it collapsed, how the hell did that happen

 

[Donna Ferentes]

Also see the Brighton pier fire...

 

[boohoo]

Down in Stockwell, there was an old school building, that although not listed was in a conservation area which was swiftly knocked down to be replaced with an identical one. My dad reckoned they weren't allowed to knock the old school down but by building a similar style building, it got around conservation issues.

 

[marty21]

was that old department store a listed building? i passed there a few weeks ago, and they still haven't started rebuilding it, or building anything. If a listed building burns down, can a completely new building replace it? or do they have to build in a similar style

 

[boohoo]

I don't think the department store was listed but it is in a conservation area. So any new build would have to be sympathetic to the area's aesthetic. so I think it will be the graffitited run down council estate look!!!

Actually the old town hall on the Narrow Way is an ideal candidate for a fire. Give it a few years if no-one does anything with it.

 

[Onket]

Also old Dalston theatre is another great canididate as well as the run down terraces of Dalston lane. Both are causing developers problems!

There are lots of burnt out places along Dalston Lane already, and that building on the opposite side of Dalston Lane from the theatre, set back from the road down a side street has been hit a couple of times. It's been empty since they moved the squatters & their vehicles on a while back.

Dalson Theatre I'm not so sure about. There are people living in Africa House which is ajoining, plus there is the Open Dalston group campaigning against it being levelled. Mind you, I guess all that means is that a fire would be even more suspicious, once it's burnt down, it's burnt down isn't it.

 

[boohoo]

I've noticed that people go into the old theatre - there is a door up some stairs which is often open. It isn't listed which makes it easier to knock down - I read in the Gazette that it had been as fancy as the Hackney Empire. I couldn't find any old photos of it at the archives. We'll see what happens......

 

[Onket]

You can email info@opendalston.net (IIRC) for some info about their campaign to save it & other parts of the surrounding area. They're being flattened for the East London line extn.

 

[Bristly Pioneer]

an old warehouse accross the road from me in Aldgate burnt down last year. I remember speaking to the firemen at the time who said it really pisses them off, although it very hard to prove. Apparently a candle in a can of petrol is the preferred method.

On this occasion, the people in the building had been given notice and moved out a week or two before, then hey presto a fire clears the area ready for the planning application which had already been submitted to the council.

It was a beautiful building too.

 

[belboid]

Pitsmoor Working-Mens Club, which was a fairly ugly building, is now a very ugly building following....a mysterious fire which occurred shortly after a failed sale attempt!

 

[PacificOcean]

Maybe a lot of Hackney's residents are pyromaniacs?

 

[boohoo]

Maybe a lot of Hackney's residents are pyromaniacs?

Well, with my expanding collection of photos I'd taken of places on fire, I have been accused of being the Phantom Fire Starter.

 

[boohoo]

You can email info@opendalston.net (IIRC) for some info about their campaign to save it & other parts of the surrounding area. They're being flattened for the East London line extn.

Thanks for that. Read an article about saving Dalston Lane in the Standard a few months ago. Good idea.

 

[durruti02]

hackney again!!

the unused One O'Clock toddlers club (shut by the council couple of years previous) in Clapton by the river mysteriously burnt down as a planning application went in to build a school ..

there was an attempt to burn it down with petrol/rag the previous day .. fireman said it was arson attempt then but not worth persuing .. nothing heard after ..

 

[boohoo]

Saw that the other day. Is nothing safe?

 

[marty21]

the unused One O'Clock toddlers club (shut by the council couple of years previous) in Clapton by the river mysteriously burnt down as a planning application went in to build a school ..

there was an attempt to burn it down with petrol/rag the previous day .. fireman said it was arson attempt then but not worth persuing .. nothing heard after ..

i saw that (well not the fire, the burnt out shell) thought it well dodgy at the time

hackney, this borough's on fire

 

[boohoo]

Last proper flames in the air kinda fire I saw was on the Hackney/Islington borders. Balls Pond road meets Essex Road. Mechanics on fire destroying old cottage behind.

yep, I think it's a Hackney thang!

 

[PacificOcean]

I wonder how long it will take for someone to come along and say something childish like it's only Hackney, who cares? or there's nothing in Hackney worth saving, or borough-wide fire would improve Hackney greatly and so on.

Of course I would never dream of saying such things.

 

[marty21]

and it would never happen somewhere else, like <picks a random near london place> windsor...oh it did

 

[boohoo]

I wonder how long it will take for someone to come along and say something childish like it's only Hackney, who cares? or there's nothing in Hackney worth saving, or borough-wide fire would improve Hackney greatly and so on.

Of course I would never dream of saying such things.

For the anti-Hackney folks some exciting facts for those silent moments at dinner parties:

Hackney has the Eurpoean record for most tower block demolitions.

Samuel Pepys use to come to Hackney to check out the school girls who he thought were a better batch than the Putney ladies.

The Hackney siege of 2003 was one of the UK's longest.


ermmm...... running out of reasons not to set fire to the whole place......

 

[PacificOcean]

For the anti-Hackney folks some exciting facts for those silent moments at dinner parties:

Hackney has the Eurpoean record for most tower block demolitions.

Samuel Pepys use to come to Hackney to check out the school girls who he thought were a better batch than the Putney ladies.

The Hackney siege of 2003 was one of the UK's longest.


ermmm...... running out of reasons not to set fire to the whole place......

Yes, not really selling it are you?

Though as I am in Tower Hamlets - Pot and kettle spring to mind

 

[boohoo]

Yes, not really selling it are you?

Though as I am in Tower Hamlets - Pot and kettle spring to mind

We do have the River Lea passing through and quite alot of nature reservoirs as well as East London's oldest brick house - Sutton House.

And Tower Hamlets' highlights are?

 

[exosculate]

Its been postulated for years that derelict but yet listed buildings have a higher risk of random arson attacks in periods of higher buoyancy in the property market.

What could it all mean?

 

[marty21]

We do have the River Lea passing through and quite alot of nature reservoirs as well as East London's oldest brick house - Sutton House.

And Tower Hamlets' highlights are?

i got married at sutton house

yep, the nature reserves along the marshes are great, although tbf, i was down at mile end a few weeks ago, and the park there looks pretty good, wild meadows and that, and the grassy bridge

 

[PacificOcean]

And Tower Hamlets' highlights are?

Fabulous street markets
Brick Lane
The headquaters of The Sun
A much lower chance of getting caught in gangland crossfire
and I live there, which is blue plaque worthy in itself.

 

[exosculate]

Fabulous street markets
Brick Lane
The headquaters of The Sun
Lower chance of getting shot in some gang fued
and I live there, which is blue plaque worthy in itself.

What does it say :

----------------------
Pacific Ocean

Lives here

STILL
-----------------------

 

[boohoo]

Fabulous street markets
Brick Lane
The headquaters of The Sun
A much lower chance of getting caught in gangland crossfire
and I live there, which is blue plaque worthy in itself.

And you're next to Hackney in case it all get's rather dull.


btw I actually live in Haringey on the borders of Hackney.

 

[PacificOcean]

What does it say :

----------------------
Pacific Ocean

Lives here

STILL
-----------------------

 

[PacificOcean]

And you're next to Hackney in case it all get's rather dull.


btw I actually live in Haringey on the borders of Hackney.

What Manor House?