The Graffiti Project
What do a bunch of famous Brazilian street artists have in common with a historic Scottish castle? Well, they are painting graffiti all over it - at the invitation of the laird. Turns out Kelburn Castle, 35 miles west of Glasgow, was covered with a dodgy rendering a few decades back which is proving detrimental to the ancient stonework underneath it, so it will be coming off in the future. Meantime it provides an amazing temporary canvas for the Sao Paulo Crew to work their colourful designs on. Not often you see a historic castle being redecorated like this - its been on the Scottish news a lot in the last week or two and really made me smile. The month long project has an official site here with lots of pictures and some very cool time lapse videos of them working (when the Scottish weather doesn't interrupt them).
Friday, May 25, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Springside
The massive former Scottish and Newcastle Brewery site a few minutes up the road from me, right next to the cinema Mel and I regularly go to, is being demolished at last - it has been empty for some time (brewing was once big business in Edinburgh, probably why it is such a real ale city, but now it is mostly gone - thankfully the much better Caledonian Brewery is still going strong. This area was popular for brewing because of the pure water from local wells, the so-called 'charmed circle' of wells). There have been plans to redevelop it for years and finally they seem to be making progress - the site is so big it goes across both sides of the main road; now one half is totally gone - where the buildings and cooling towers and tall walls were there is just fields of rubble. Quite odd to walk past this spot which was so built up before and now I can see clear across it to the area beyond. Not the first time it has been redeveloped in the last century though, as the old tenement where Sir Sean Connery was born was next to it, but was demolished long ago. In fact, he used to deliver milk around there as a young lad - these days when he comes back to the area it is to walk the red carpet at Film Festival launches; talk about change.
In such a built up area near the city centre there obviously isn't a lot of opportunity to remake areas, so I'm keen to see them do something nice with such an enormous brownfield site. We're promised a mix of business spots, leisure and new homes with much-needed open spaces - this part of town lacks some decent open areas because it is so heavily built up. It all ties in with the revamp of the nearby canal, which now has lots of barges on it (some for holidays, some folks living on them year round), new flats overlooking it and waterside restaurants and cafes and a redone towpath for walking and cycling on which Mel and I make use of a lot (beats walking by the busy main road and you can feed the ducks as well as grab some nice photos). Of course, it may end up being a mess as these things can be sometimes, but hopefully they make a good job of it since it is going to be a big part of my local environment (and probably boost the already inflated housing prices) - they've put up a website for this new area, which they are going to call Springside and a short video, which also takes in some of the history of the Fountainbridge area.
I wonder if it will actually look like this when done. Always interesting to see something in transition; few years back a major brewery, then empty buildings, now rubble and in a couple of years people will have their homes there - in fact, a lot of people; this isn't just a couple of old buildings, its a big site and will change the nature of the area a lot. Right now it is just an idea of a place; I think I will enjoy it being translated into a real place - if any part of a city can be said to be truly real, since some of it is always in our impressions of it and our imagination and our memories.
The massive former Scottish and Newcastle Brewery site a few minutes up the road from me, right next to the cinema Mel and I regularly go to, is being demolished at last - it has been empty for some time (brewing was once big business in Edinburgh, probably why it is such a real ale city, but now it is mostly gone - thankfully the much better Caledonian Brewery is still going strong. This area was popular for brewing because of the pure water from local wells, the so-called 'charmed circle' of wells). There have been plans to redevelop it for years and finally they seem to be making progress - the site is so big it goes across both sides of the main road; now one half is totally gone - where the buildings and cooling towers and tall walls were there is just fields of rubble. Quite odd to walk past this spot which was so built up before and now I can see clear across it to the area beyond. Not the first time it has been redeveloped in the last century though, as the old tenement where Sir Sean Connery was born was next to it, but was demolished long ago. In fact, he used to deliver milk around there as a young lad - these days when he comes back to the area it is to walk the red carpet at Film Festival launches; talk about change.
In such a built up area near the city centre there obviously isn't a lot of opportunity to remake areas, so I'm keen to see them do something nice with such an enormous brownfield site. We're promised a mix of business spots, leisure and new homes with much-needed open spaces - this part of town lacks some decent open areas because it is so heavily built up. It all ties in with the revamp of the nearby canal, which now has lots of barges on it (some for holidays, some folks living on them year round), new flats overlooking it and waterside restaurants and cafes and a redone towpath for walking and cycling on which Mel and I make use of a lot (beats walking by the busy main road and you can feed the ducks as well as grab some nice photos). Of course, it may end up being a mess as these things can be sometimes, but hopefully they make a good job of it since it is going to be a big part of my local environment (and probably boost the already inflated housing prices) - they've put up a website for this new area, which they are going to call Springside and a short video, which also takes in some of the history of the Fountainbridge area.
I wonder if it will actually look like this when done. Always interesting to see something in transition; few years back a major brewery, then empty buildings, now rubble and in a couple of years people will have their homes there - in fact, a lot of people; this isn't just a couple of old buildings, its a big site and will change the nature of the area a lot. Right now it is just an idea of a place; I think I will enjoy it being translated into a real place - if any part of a city can be said to be truly real, since some of it is always in our impressions of it and our imagination and our memories.
That lack of information
I dropped an email to Lothian Buses suggesting they should have some decent signs up on the stops near me which are out of use due to roadworks and got a reply saying they put them up last week. I use them everyday and I never saw any and since a number of folks have been waiting at the stops this week oblivious I'm not the only one. If they are there then they are pretty poorly placed since no-one seems to have spotted them - even this morning I had to tell someone standing at my regular spot that they had to go along several stops to another street to get the diverted service. Still, on the positive side, as I headed to a different street to get one of those diverted buses this morning I saw one I usually get just picking away as I approached. Because of the diversions it is hard to work out when they will come, so it is annoying to miss one and have no idea how long it might be till the next. And then the very friendly driver saw the heavy traffic ahead, recognised me, opened the door and beckoned me in. So praise this time round for a very friendly service and isn't it nice the way when someone unexpectedly does something like that for you it puts you into a much better mood for the whole day?
I dropped an email to Lothian Buses suggesting they should have some decent signs up on the stops near me which are out of use due to roadworks and got a reply saying they put them up last week. I use them everyday and I never saw any and since a number of folks have been waiting at the stops this week oblivious I'm not the only one. If they are there then they are pretty poorly placed since no-one seems to have spotted them - even this morning I had to tell someone standing at my regular spot that they had to go along several stops to another street to get the diverted service. Still, on the positive side, as I headed to a different street to get one of those diverted buses this morning I saw one I usually get just picking away as I approached. Because of the diversions it is hard to work out when they will come, so it is annoying to miss one and have no idea how long it might be till the next. And then the very friendly driver saw the heavy traffic ahead, recognised me, opened the door and beckoned me in. So praise this time round for a very friendly service and isn't it nice the way when someone unexpectedly does something like that for you it puts you into a much better mood for the whole day?
Monday, May 21, 2007
Lack of information
Road work signs have sprung up on the main road near me in the last week announcing that a chunk of this very busy road would be closed from Monday for quite some time for major repairs. Since this is one of the main routes for this side of the city I assumed this could have a major effect on the bus service. The sort of major effect that would mean the local bus company would put up some information on the affected stop to say, sorry, you can't get a bus from here, you must head over several streets to this point to meet the diverted services. You'd think that. But not, Lothian Regional Transport never bothered their arse and even this morning there were folk standing at stops where no bus was going to come, not a single sign to be seen to tell them there was no service. If you went to their website then dug around in the news section you can find out this information; fine for me, but I am guessing not every single passenger who uses this busy route was able to do this, or even knew to do it - and they shouldn't have to since it should be posted on the bus stops taken out of service during the work. Piss poor customer care.
Road work signs have sprung up on the main road near me in the last week announcing that a chunk of this very busy road would be closed from Monday for quite some time for major repairs. Since this is one of the main routes for this side of the city I assumed this could have a major effect on the bus service. The sort of major effect that would mean the local bus company would put up some information on the affected stop to say, sorry, you can't get a bus from here, you must head over several streets to this point to meet the diverted services. You'd think that. But not, Lothian Regional Transport never bothered their arse and even this morning there were folk standing at stops where no bus was going to come, not a single sign to be seen to tell them there was no service. If you went to their website then dug around in the news section you can find out this information; fine for me, but I am guessing not every single passenger who uses this busy route was able to do this, or even knew to do it - and they shouldn't have to since it should be posted on the bus stops taken out of service during the work. Piss poor customer care.
More Bristol
Some more pics I snapped going back and forth from my hotel to the Comics Expo in Bristol.
Old brewery building converted into some rather attractive looking apartments
Nice church tower down a street near the pub where I had a couple of well-earned and gorgeous-tasting pints of the local Butcombe Brewery Gold (so disappointed I can't get it up here, but the brewery only sell it within a 50 mile radius).
I passed this beautiful, big church on the way in from the airport; the bells were peeling quite wonderfully as I passed.
This drunkenly leaning tower is quite striking; a friend at the convention told me it was an old church gutted by bombing by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War.
I loved the plaster relief of an elephant on this building near the market.
The Redcliffe Wharf down by the river; as with a lot of riverside cities there is a mix of older, decrepit buildings and freshly restored old buildings like this given a new lease of life as the once busy, commercial area is reborn from a workspace into a living and leisure space with new apartments and pleasure craft, restaurants and bars.
Another nicely restored old building
Its not all old buildings decaying or being restored, there was this unusual modern tower stuck in the middle of a building site.
No, it isn't the emblem of the male stripper's society, its the T&GWU, Transport and General Worker's Union.
Some more pics I snapped going back and forth from my hotel to the Comics Expo in Bristol.
Old brewery building converted into some rather attractive looking apartments
Nice church tower down a street near the pub where I had a couple of well-earned and gorgeous-tasting pints of the local Butcombe Brewery Gold (so disappointed I can't get it up here, but the brewery only sell it within a 50 mile radius).
I passed this beautiful, big church on the way in from the airport; the bells were peeling quite wonderfully as I passed.
This drunkenly leaning tower is quite striking; a friend at the convention told me it was an old church gutted by bombing by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War.
I loved the plaster relief of an elephant on this building near the market.
The Redcliffe Wharf down by the river; as with a lot of riverside cities there is a mix of older, decrepit buildings and freshly restored old buildings like this given a new lease of life as the once busy, commercial area is reborn from a workspace into a living and leisure space with new apartments and pleasure craft, restaurants and bars.
Another nicely restored old building
Its not all old buildings decaying or being restored, there was this unusual modern tower stuck in the middle of a building site.
No, it isn't the emblem of the male stripper's society, its the T&GWU, Transport and General Worker's Union.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Big, shiny bauble
I got lost trying to get from the comics expo to my hotel; well, I say lost, actually I navigated my way perfectly well to where it was supposed to be according to Google Maps, except it wasn't there. Neither was the lane it was supposed to be on. Check my little printed out map - so organised, navigating my way in a city I've never been to before quite well, shame the hotel wasn't there! Check street names, yup I have come to the right spot on the map. But no hotel and no lane for the hotel... After several circuits of the block it should be on I spot a branch of Stamfords, the travel book specialists and try in there - a look in their A-Z maps shows the street isn't even on the print maps. Sinking feeling. The helpful bookseller recognises the name of the hotel though and points me over the river to an area being redeveloped (hence why not on the map yet, I suppose), so an extra few minutes later and finally I find my hotel and can check in. It turned out to be right behind this retro-futuristic silver sphere by the riverside.
Now I knew where the darned place was in relation to the convention I walked a different route back this time (luckily I have a knack for working out my way round places, so I thought I'd get at least a tiny bit more of the city as I went back and forth). Just past here on the riverside there were lots of bars and restaurants; after a showery day the evening became clear, warm and sunny, quite perfect for a walk back (and it was nice to see Edinburgh doesn't have the monopoly on badly dressed hen parties on Saturdays!).
After not having much time for a proper meal during the day it was time for some decent nosh and oh my, what's this, a gorgeous cool ale from the local Butcombe Brewery (Butcombe Gold, I think I just found my perfect summer ale, must see if the local Wetherspoon here has it).
Just what I need, a reflecting surface which makes me look shorter and fatter...
I liked these colourful old tenements overlooking the river - the Bristol version of Balamory :-)?
Just across the river from the hotel was Brunel's great S.S. Great Britain, although sadly seeing the masts of this revolutionary huge steamship was as close as I got to her.
I got lost trying to get from the comics expo to my hotel; well, I say lost, actually I navigated my way perfectly well to where it was supposed to be according to Google Maps, except it wasn't there. Neither was the lane it was supposed to be on. Check my little printed out map - so organised, navigating my way in a city I've never been to before quite well, shame the hotel wasn't there! Check street names, yup I have come to the right spot on the map. But no hotel and no lane for the hotel... After several circuits of the block it should be on I spot a branch of Stamfords, the travel book specialists and try in there - a look in their A-Z maps shows the street isn't even on the print maps. Sinking feeling. The helpful bookseller recognises the name of the hotel though and points me over the river to an area being redeveloped (hence why not on the map yet, I suppose), so an extra few minutes later and finally I find my hotel and can check in. It turned out to be right behind this retro-futuristic silver sphere by the riverside.
Now I knew where the darned place was in relation to the convention I walked a different route back this time (luckily I have a knack for working out my way round places, so I thought I'd get at least a tiny bit more of the city as I went back and forth). Just past here on the riverside there were lots of bars and restaurants; after a showery day the evening became clear, warm and sunny, quite perfect for a walk back (and it was nice to see Edinburgh doesn't have the monopoly on badly dressed hen parties on Saturdays!).
After not having much time for a proper meal during the day it was time for some decent nosh and oh my, what's this, a gorgeous cool ale from the local Butcombe Brewery (Butcombe Gold, I think I just found my perfect summer ale, must see if the local Wetherspoon here has it).
Just what I need, a reflecting surface which makes me look shorter and fatter...
I liked these colourful old tenements overlooking the river - the Bristol version of Balamory :-)?
Just across the river from the hotel was Brunel's great S.S. Great Britain, although sadly seeing the masts of this revolutionary huge steamship was as close as I got to her.
Animated Calvin and Hobbes
I came across this today, a short, unofficial animated Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. We're unlikely to see a full length Calvin and Hobbes cartoon in the near future and of course Bill Watterson finished the comics a while back, but this short little gem by Italian film student Donato Di Carlo (in Italian with English subtitles) captures the spirit of Calvin and Hobbes very well and really made me smile.
I came across this today, a short, unofficial animated Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. We're unlikely to see a full length Calvin and Hobbes cartoon in the near future and of course Bill Watterson finished the comics a while back, but this short little gem by Italian film student Donato Di Carlo (in Italian with English subtitles) captures the spirit of Calvin and Hobbes very well and really made me smile.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)