Preston’s Chaotic High Street
I know that there are lots of road works, but Preston’s High Street wasn’t one of the best I’ve visited.
Preston High Street
Cars were still trying to get through the road works and shouldn’t they be in a car park somewhere? Even the Marks and Spencer was very tired and in the food department, there were no gluten-free sandwiches.
The biggest crime in my view, was the non-working clock that towered over the street. But at least Rolex had the time right.
It is definitely a High Street that needs a touch of Portasisation!
There were no maps and signposts and this was the only cafe I passed.
The Only Cafe I Passed
But then I don’t do Starbucks. Surely, there must be a locally owned coffee shop in the city.
Preston Martyrs Memorial
I like to look out for large sculpture as I travel around.
This is the memorial to those, who died in the Preston Strike of 1842.
I’d never heard of any of this until I saw the memorial, but I do feel that the sculpture does not do those who died, justice.
Wayfinding In Preston
Preston didn’t offer much in the way of information to help walkers. Typical was this finger post and map.
Signposts and Maps In Preston
It’s not even as good as it looks, as some of the fingers weren’t pointing in the right direction.
Preston Covered Market
The covered market in Preston is a Grade 2 Listed building.
It was large and busy, but most of the goods on offer didn’t interest me at all. Like the bus station is this another albatross around Preston’s neck?
Preston Bus Station
Preston Bus Station is a classic 1960s building in a brutalist style. I decided to visit, when I heard about the rows raging around the building as I discussed here.
The council has a problem in that the building needs a lot of repairs and have proposed its demolition. But there is a heritage lobby opposed to this and so the row is set to continue. The building has now been given a Grade 2 listing.
I quite liked the building and it does seem to my untutored eye that it does need a bit of work to be done.
But you can’t help but think that the building has problems that refurbishment won’t solve.
If you take the best train-bus interfaces in the country like Barnsley, Canning Town and now Kings Cross, the bus station at Preston is not in the right place for those arriving in the city by train. It’s akin to expecting passengers arriving at Kings Cross to walk to Euston to get a bus. They wouldn’t and I suspect in Preston they don’t!
So I come to the reluctant conclusion, that the bus station should be knocked down, despite the fact I like the building a lot.
The only way to save it, would be to create an innovative solution perhaps using a free bus that connects the rail and bus stations via the main shopping street.
But I suspect that has been looked at and discarded.
Incidentally, I wasn’t the only visitor interested in the bus station. There were perhaps three others photographing the building.
A Dilemma For Alex Salmond
I didn’t know that Scotland had a dark sky park and a gold tier one at that in the Galloway Forest Park.
It was funded by the Scottish government and as an amateur astronomer, who recently saw the wonderful skies in Sweden, I think that these dark sky reserves and parks are a very good idea.
But now Alex Salmond has a dilemma, as outlined by the BBC in this report. As a big supporter of wind turbines, does he give planning permissions for these around the park. As they are lit at night, they wouldn’t make the Scottish Dark Sky Observatory any better.
The Astronomer Royal for Scotland is not amused and has said this.
Installing any large structures that require illumination (whether visible or infra-red) would be akin to putting a factory in Glen Coe or electricity pylons along the Cuillin Ridge.
I have no direct interest as I live in London, but knowing the pleasure I get from observing the skies when I can, I think we need more dark sky parks. We also need one that is very easily accessible. Obviously, a road through such an area to an observatory would be a generator of light pollution, but surely there must be somewhere in the UK, where a train station is in a dark sky area, that could be used to take visitors in and out, without making too much light pollution.
Hundreds Of Sunflowers
On the forecourt at St. Pancras station, it was all happening this morning.
It’s an art installation, that will be opening on Tuesday.
I shall return!
All The Fun Of The Fair
The fair in Kings Cross Square was going well, when I visited this morning.
Do we need more open spaces like this, to put on events? Of course!
Bridget Jones Becomes A Wrinkled Widow
Several newspapers, like the Glasgow Herald here, are reporting that in the latest Bridget Jones Diary, the heroine has become a widow. The Herald’s headline is something that I know a lot of widows will disagree with.
Meet Bridget Jones at 51: a wrinkled widow who becomes a Twitter cougar
I’ve met quite a few widows and widowers older than than 51,who can’t be described as the least bit wrinkled. In fact, I have to go a good bit past 51 to know any that are the least bit wrinkled.
I may be 66, but I don’t think I’m also too wrinkled. If anybody would like to check, I’ll buy the coffee.
I think the Herald, just played the alliteration card to get a catchy headline.
The Anonymous Widower 