December 17th – At Kings Hill, passing through on an errand, I noticed the former Kings Hill Methodist Church seems to finally be in the process of conversion to flats. Permission has been outstanding for a while, and the grounds around have been cleared and I’ve noticed workers coming and going for a couple of weeks.
In the morning sun, it looked handsome, and I’m glad it’s being repurposed, rather than lost.
January 16th – As much as I’m growing to loathe the results of the renovation of New Street Station in Birmingham, the process is still fascinating me. One of the things I like about it is how normal conventions of public buildings are broken. There is serious civil engineering going on at the same time as huge numbers of people and trains pass through this humming interchange..
Odd things happen.
Personnel appear from hidden doorways and gaps. There are odd noises and bangs. Occasionally, you get sprayed with water, or dust. Lifts and stairs appear, and then are boarded up again. cables dangle and tangle above the headspaces, and snake and race through the girders and scaffold.
One of the things you see here you don’t elsewhere is engineering graffiti. Surveyors measure. Sparkies test. Cladders clad. All of them leave their marks and datums scribbled on walls, floors and hoardings. Sometimes, they make sense. Often, they’re just mysterious glyphs, whose purpose is only known to those with the skill. I love how they ebb and flow with the focus of the work.
Spotting them is something to do while you wait…
September 11th – A very peculiar day. I had something important to do in the morning, and was expecting to be out of action for the rest of the day. As it happened, the morning didn’t take quite the toll I expected it to and I went to work. Staying late, I came back home as darkness fell. I can’t really put my finger on it, but I’m really taking a serious dislike to the ‘new’ New Street Station. The platform access is now at the one end, and the space down there is restricted and made claustrophobic by the ever-changing hoardings. Passenger information screens are not positioned in useful points anymore, and the cramped lifts, already scuffed and grubby decor in the upper concourse all stink of compromise and bodge.
This is not a transport hub undergoing a Lepidoptera style emergence from the cocoon of renovation, but a desperate attempt to polish a turd that should have been flushed years ago.
June 23rd – An evening spin out to Chasewater, and a surprisingly choppy reservoir put me in ming of childhood trips to Rhyl or Prestatyn. The wind whipped the water into spume-topped fury, and buffeted the pier, breakwater and wakeboard line.
Wakelake seem to be settling in now, but seem to be still erecting gear. They’ve made a much better job of renovating the pier than I originally thought, although it will stay out of bounds to the general public.
It’s so good to see this facility here, and the old wooden jetty come back to life.
May 16th – I notice the exterior works on the two remaining tower blocks in Brownhills are nearing completion. On Humphries house, seen here from Catshill Junction, the worker’s platform lifts are being dismantled. I’m still not fond of the colour scheme: Most of the building has been painted brilliant white, with the north-eastern faces a slate blue. I think it’s hideous, and looks unfinished. I note the two new flues running up the southern wall, which are from the new biomass communal heating plant… an interesting idea. Let’s hope it’s more reliable than the similarly ‘revolutionary’ underfloor heating installed when the flats were built.
Last time I posted on this subject, I was jumped on by someone whose relatives were apparently overjoyed to be living in these flats. Funny how the fiercest advocates of these design disasters never actually live in them themselves…
March 10th – Oh dear. Humphries House and Severn House, the last two extant tower blocks in Brownhills have been extensively renovated, and have been reclad to provide better insulation and to prolong their life. It’s been a bit of a mystery what colour they were going to be – they were originally skinned in an off-white media. It seems our question has now been answered; Humphries House is to be a vivid blue and Severn House a glowing pink. Does that mean one will be for fellas and one for the girls?
Have to say, that’s bloody horrible. Yuck.
August 7th – The renovation of the Hussey Arms continues apace, and the results so far are looking really, really good. After being empty and boarded up for a long time, Greene King are turning this nice-looking building into a family pub under their ‘Hungry Horse’ brand. Intrigued to note they still haven’t sorted that wonky chimney yet…
June 22nd – The renovation and conversion of the Hussey Arms into a Greene King family pub seems to be fairly racing along. The pub is already looking better than it has for years – I just hope they’ve noticed that rickety, tilting chimney and do something about it before it ends up through the roof. Or even on some hapless punter’s head.
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