Humberston Fitties – 2025

Posted on by modernmoocher

Well well here we are again, third time around following a visit in 2018 and later in 2021.

Almost inevitably, changes have taken place.

There is an almost constant tension between order and/or disorder.

Between those who prefer the shambolic aesthetic of the shotgun shack, and those whose hearts and minds are in the double spread of Homes and Gardens.

It’s also a question of economics, there are those with capital who may wish to make investments in property. Buy to let, second homes that yield a return above the current savings’ rates. Thus raising the cost of housing, both ordered and disordered.

There are fifteen offered for rental on airbnb.

The chalet is a unique wooden clad cabin painted in lovely complimentary colours of Cream and Seaspray Green. A porthole window peers into a generous open plan living room and adjoined kitchen with subtle seaside touches of stripes, driftwood, shells, all quality wooden furniture and large comfy corner sofa plus two relaxing reading chairs with plenty of blankets to snuggle up in.

So the march of big money heralds the arrival of complementary after dinner mints, uPVC cladding, tasteful nautical bric a brac, prohibitive signs, off road parking and a Hampton’s aesthetic – a little bit of New England inna little bit of England.

Despite the incursion of those folks on a week long excursion, there is still an air of lukewarm anarchy which pervades the Fitties. An array of wonky homemade fences constantly askew, refusing to be aligned to the orthogonal.

Mañana never comes here on this little stretch of the Lincolnshire coast, get it while you can.

Abbey Walk Car Park – Grimsby 2025

Posted on by modernmoocher

Here we are again, six years after the first visit.

What’s been happening hereabouts in the interim?

The Abbey Walk car park was built in 1969 by Holst & Company of Scunthorpe at a cost of approximately £200,000. Whilst a key asset for the town centre, the car park was closed in May 2024, after structural defects were found. This was water ingress into key structural supports, making the car park potentially unsafe to use.

It has now been approved to proceed with plans to demolish the car park, and replace it with a 120-space surface car park, but with the capability in the foundations of being built on in future years if needed.

But what of the unique concrete relief panels, you may ask?

The four abstract concrete reliefs depict parts of a car, which were inspired by drawings in the handbook of the artist’s Austin Cambridge estate car, and were installed when the building was constructed.

Designed in the 1960s by artist and sculptor, Harold Gosney, having been asked to carry out the car park commission by the architects, Nicholson and Rushton.

These panels were cast in situ, with metal bars running through them, which were integral to the car park structure, which is likely to make removal of the artwork incredibly difficult.

NE Lincs

Last month, it was confirmed conservationists from the University of Lincoln had 3D scanned the sculptures to create digital 3D models to preserve them.

Grimsby Telegraph 

Photo – BBC

Which is all well and good, but will they ever be really remade and reinstated anywhere?

Only time will tell.

In 2023 the car park stairwell was transformed by young people from the local area, as part of a project by North East Lincolnshire Council and local artist Lynsey Powles, to try to tackle graffiti and anti-social behaviour.

Abbey Walk multistorey car park in Grimsby has been the site of a number of incidents of anti-social behaviour and graffiti in recent years.

NE Lincs

The demolition and subsequent construction will cost between £1.5m and £2.5m, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Burnley Central Railway Station

Posted on by modernmoocher

Burnley Central railway station is a stop on the East Lancashire Line, it is managed by Northern Trains, which also provides its passenger service.

Architect: RL Moorcroft of British Rail 1964-1966

Described by Claire Hartwell in the Buildings of England Lancashire: North as – of blue brick, bleak.

The station was opened by the East Lancashire Railway in 1848, as part of its route from Bury and Blackburn to Colne; here, an end-on junction was made with the Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway line from Skipton that had been completed several months earlier. The service from Colne through the station to Manchester Victoria, via Accrington and Bury, was well used from the outset by the owners of the local cotton mills, who travelled from their homes in the area to make their purchases of raw cotton at the Royal Exchange several times each week. It was also possible to travel from the station by direct train to Blackpool, Liverpool and Skipton and even through to London Euston, via Blackburn, Manchester Victoria and Stockport.

1964 Red Rose Collections.

However, the cutbacks of the 1960s affected the station badly, with through trains to Manchester via Bury ending in 1964 (two years before the withdrawal of the Accrington to Bury service) and those to Liverpool in 1969 whilst the line to Skipton was closed to all traffic in 1970. This left the station on a 10.5 km long dead-end branch line from Rose Grove to Colne.

The station was rebuilt in 1965, its ground floor is at street level and the first floor at platform level.

Wikipedia

1985

On the day of my visit the hourly service to Colne was almost due, there were two passengers on the platform.

A single track to a dead end town, the booking office and waiting room locked.

Haçienda Hazards

Posted on by modernmoocher

Hawker Typhoon 1945

Health and safety regulations state that markings should be placed around obstacles or dangerous locations. This includes where any of the following present a risk:

  • people tripping or falling
  • objects falling
  • people or vehicles colliding with objects

These markings should be made up of alternating red and white or yellow and black stripes of equal size at a 45 degree angle. Barricade tape can be used to satisfy this requirement as long as the tape is “commensurate with the scale of the obstacle or dangerous location in question”

Wikipedia

I hereby lay claim to this symbol, sign, icon, the combination of black and yellow, wherever it may appear, in this or any other world, in whatever shape, form, pattern or composition, be it civil or military. I hereby claim to be its originator and owner.

Leif Elggren 1977

Designed by Ben Kelly, upon recommendation by Factory graphic designer Peter Saville, upstairs consisted of a stage, dance area, bar, cloakroom, cafeteria area and balcony with a DJ booth. 

The Haçienda was opened on 21 May 1982, when the comedian Bernard Manning remarked to the audience:

I’ve played some shit-holes during my time, but this is really something.

His jokes did not go down well with the crowd and he returned his fee.

Wikipedia

Meanwhile in 2019

The black and yellow stripes on Manchester City’s away shirts were meant to be an uplifting homage to Manchester’s cultural heritage, but the choice of design now risks becoming a chip on the team’s shoulders.

The team’s jersey is embroiled in a controversy after Ben Kelly, the man who originally designed the stripes for famed Manchester nightclub the Haçienda, complained in a recent interview to Gaffer magazine that he was not credited or consulted by the creators of the football apparel.

When Manchester City and Puma launched the team’s 2019/20 kit last July, they said in a press release that the uniform paid tribute to the “Madchester” years of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the city in north-west England became a hub of alternative music and dance culture.

Guardian

The Estate of Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan has remained silent on such matters.

What the FAC51 is wrong with folk?

All of which leads me to Altrincham – on Grosvenor Road beneath the A56.

I negotiated the concrete pillars – not once colliding with these immense hazards.

Arterial Manchester 2024 – A56

Posted on by modernmoocher

Having photographed the arterial roads of Manchester in 2014, I have resolved to return to the task in 2024.

Some things seem to have changed, some things seem to have stayed the same.

Bonny Street Police Station – Blackpool 2024

Posted on by modernmoocher

The concrete and the clay beneath my feet
Begins to crumble
But love will never die

Doomed to face the demolition crew – the anti-social intrusions and falling masonry have enforced a fence, an impenetrable fence.

My requests for unforced entry were politely rebuffed by the hi-vis vest security guards.

A former police station could finally be demolished this autumn after closing six years ago when officers moved to new headquarters.

Blackpool Magistrates’ Court, which is part of the same complex, will also be bulldozed after crumbling concrete was discovered in the building in January. 

In recent months, the empty Bonny Street police station has become a target for anti-social behaviour.

Clearance of the site will pave the way for investment in leisure facilities including hotels and indoor theme parks by developer Nikal.

BBC

So this is the last time around the concrete block for me – memories are made of this, my previous visit in 2022.

Yet the future still seems slightly uncertain.

It is unclear at this stage how the vision for the development has changed in the three-plus years since the outline plans were approved.

Place North West

For those of you watching in colour – this is in black and white.

May be the last time, I don’t know
May be the last time, I don’t know
Lord, I don’t know

Over And Under The M62

Posted on by modernmoocher

The M62 is a 107-mile-long west–east trans-Pennine motorway, connecting Liverpool and Hull via Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; 7 miles of the route is shared with the M60 orbital motorway around Manchester.

The motorway, which was first proposed in the 1930s, and conceived as two separate routes, was opened in stages between 1971 and 1976, with construction beginning at Pole Moor near Huddersfield and finishing at that time in Tarbock on the outskirts of Liverpool. The motorway absorbed the northern end of the Stretford-Eccles bypass, which was built between 1957 and 1960. Adjusted for inflation to 2007, its construction cost approximately £765 million. The motorway has an average daily traffic flow of 144,000 vehicles in West Yorkshire, and has several sections prone to gridlock, in particular, between Leeds and Huddersfield and the M60 section around Eccles.

Wikipedia

Construction in Milnrow July 1968

We were walking along Tunshill Lane on our way to the Piethorn Valley, our crossing of the M62 facilitated by this elegant road bridge.

A notable structure between junctions 21 and 22 on the uphill section towards Windy Hill is the Rakewood Viaduct which carries the road over the Longden End Brook.

The viaduct is 280 yards long and 140 ft above the valley floor. It was built in 1966 by Reed & Mallik and opened to motorway traffic in October 1971. It has a sister bridge, the Gathurst Viaduct in Wigan, which carries the M6 motorway over the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, the Manchester-Southport line and the River Douglas and was constructed before the Rakewood Viaduct.

The steelwork deck was subcontracted to Robert Watson Steelwork of Bolton.

Wikipedia

Under construction 1968.

We returned to Smithy Bridge Station passing under the viaduct.

The Modern Mooch is a pedestrian – yet has written of motorway matters here and here.

Drive and arrive safely you motorway motorists!

Portland Walk Car Park – Barrow in Furness

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Slater St Barrow-in-Furness LA14 1RU

Westmorland and Furness Council said Portland Walk car park will close from the start of July.

In a statement the council revealed the rooftop car park will permanently close from July 1 following a review which found said it had ‘very low usage’.

The Mail

I turned a corner, then another corner and caught sight of a concrete car park ramp.

I thought, I think – therefore, I am going to walk up and down it.

Wythenshawe Town Centre Car Park

Posted on by modernmoocher

Multi Storey Car Park Rowlandsway Manchester M22 5RG

I’ve lost count of the countless times I have visited countless car parks.

I do have a fondness for ramps – particularly helical ramps, one of my most memorable early modernist encounters, was with Lubetkin’s penguin pool.

The cast concrete taking on a truly sculptural dimension.

There is also the Proustian recollection of a collection of geometry lessons and Helix instruments.

It has all left a lasting impression and I have subsequently taken every opportunity to waddle penguin like up and down several concrete car park ramps.

Here’s the most recent.

Car Park – Huddersfield Bus Station

Posted on by modernmoocher

Upperhead Row Huddersfield HD1 2JN

I was informed by the seriously erudite Christopher Marsden that the bus station and car park were the work of Derek C W Vane: Borough Architect 1972-1974.

Having visited and photographed the bus station in 2016 I thought that it was about time I went up in the world, to the top level of the car park.

Mixed opinions from Parkopedia reviewers – let’s take a look around.

There are plans for refurbishment outlined in 2022 in the Huddersfield Hub.

The bus station will undergo a major revamp both inside and out and the most striking feature will be a sweeping canopy with a living grass roof which will run right across the main frontage from Macaulay Square to Upperhead Row.

Also of note a project by Kate Matthews to seriously rethink the role and design of the space.

The starting point for this project was the Welcoming Water group scenario, involving the controlled flooding of areas of the town.

The new interchange includes facilities for cycling, walking, and public transit. The basin and marina on the new lake allow for an increased focus on water-based transport, including a new bus-boat. The main Transport Hub sits below an undulating roof and contains not only the bus bays and ticketing facilities, but also co-working and relaxation spaces. The curves of the roof, trying to confuse the binary of floor and ceiling, are just one example of the ambiguity throughout the scheme.

This project was nominated for the Architects for Health Student Design Award in 2021.

And finally:

Raven Meadows Car Park – Shrewsbury

Posted on by modernmoocher

Shropshire Council Raven Meadows Shrewsbury SY1 1PL

Built by Truscon Ltd. – 1969

I am a disabled driver and found a lot of the direction signs worn away. When I came to leave I wanted to use the machine on the ground floor. This was out of order, as a lot of other people found. The office was empty as the staff were outside smoking. I then had to negotiate stars back to the 7th floor where the next machine was located. There was no sign on the ground floor machine telling it was out of use and where the next machine was located.

If staff want to have a smoke they should at least leave someone in the office.

Most of the parking spaces are very tight and I would not recommend the use of this car park unless you have a small car and a crystal ball to find the disabled parking and the payment meters.

Parkopedia

The rudest man at the kiosk, that I have ever had an encounter with, over a ticket that was blurred. He had a go at me for not going to him straight away – I went when I went to leave and it wouldn’t work. He also had a go at me because I pressed the buzzer on the intercom. Very strange unhelpful man. Made an issue for no reason! Awful to deal with I never write reviews, but I hope this gets back to him and with hope he will gain some manners.

Being a pedestrian, I entered through the bus station on foot.

The station is considered to be dated due to its 1980s architecture partially under a 1960s multi-storey car park. There have been plans for the station to be modernised and rebuilt, or even demolished completely, as part of the town’s Big Town Plan. The demolition of the station would mean the town would not have a central bus terminus and would instead use smaller sites on the town’s Park and Ride routes.

Wikipedia

Shrewsbury Bus Station is a disgrace. I am embarrassed to use it. I don’t feel comfortable with using it. Yet, it is the bus hub for our county. It is one of the main gateways into Shrewsbury and Shropshire for those travelling by public transport.

New bus hubs and interchanges have been developed around the country. Shropshire Council meanwhile ignores Shrewsbury Bus Station. It promises a new bus interchange, but that is in Phase 4 of its plans to redevelop Shrewsbury town centre between Pride Hill and the riverfront. In the current financial climate and with the council stretched to the limit on existing funding, Phase 4 is probably more than a decade away.

Maybe now in fantasy land.

Andybodders

Then took the lift to the seventh level – the ninth and eleventh being closed to motor cars.

But not the intrepid pedestrian.

This is an informative video tour of the area.

Car Park – Eldon Square

Posted on by modernmoocher

Eldon Square Percy Street Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RZ

Well here we are in Newcastle again exploring a car park – last time was the Manors.

We are a walkway and a walk away at Eldon Square – a great big drum of a spiral ramped cylinder.

So well worth a look – by walking the ramp with outside in, and inside out views.

Balmoral Car Park – Scarborough

Posted on by modernmoocher

North St Scarborough YO11 1LU

Last day of the holidays and we’re off to Balmoral!

No not that Balmoral the other Balmoral, the car park attached to the Balmoral Centre, built in 1974 – with little or no reference to the Highland baronial.

Though the old Balmoral Hotel had to be removed in 1973.

Scarborough is a beloved seaside resort and we’re pleased to have secured these well-known, popular parades, bringing them into our in-house portfolio.

We are committed to focusing our efforts on regional retail centres and neighbourhood parades where we can see there is incredible potential. The Balmoral Centre and Bar House provide us with significant opportunities to add significant value and we are already looking to identify how we can revitalise these centres further. We hope to make announcements on how we can achieve this over the next few months.

This is the Coast

The staff at this car park are always friendly and really helpful.

You can tell they take pride in their car park.

We stay in this car park every time we come to Scarborough and stay in Britannia hotels, we find it safe and secure to park your car, the staff are very helpful and polite and keep the car park in tip top condition.

We will always park here great opening and closing times also five minute walk to Royal and Grand Hotel and shops.

Parkopedia

It’s tucked in behind B&M

Don’t go up the ramp Steve, the entrance is around the corner.

Up in the lift to level six – to the East it was misty, whilst to the West it was not.

Down another level and still not a sign of any cars.

Back up to the top of the world.

St Anns Road North – Heald Green

Posted on by modernmoocher

St. Anns Road North in Heald Green is in the North West region of England. The postcode is within the Heald Green ward/electoral division, which is in the constituency of Cheadle.

Streetcheck

It literally was all fields around here once – save for a Lunatic Asylum and a cottage or two.

There is still a Griffin Inn, in which to sup yourself insensible.

I often cycle along here on my way to who knows where – today I stoped to take some snaps.

Having an interest in suburban housing its vagaries and typologies – I have recored Penrhyn Bay several times, along with Woodford, Whitley Lodge Estate, Killingworth, and East Didsbury.

This area was once described to me as built by Cowboys for Indians – though statistically there are more Pakistani residents.

This is a dormitory suburb of Manchester and nearby Stockport and is oh so close to the airport, polite and professional well presented and aspirational.

Once this was a Modern paradigm.

Subsequently the plaything of the upwardly mobile – extending in all directions, adding period details way out of period, or embracing the current vogue for the refined and smoothly rendered grey-ification of their homes.

Welcome to the land of the performance vehicle, impressive impressed drive, carriage lamp and bay window, overlooking a well clipped lawn.

Manchester Arterial – A662

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Having photographed the arterial roads of Manchester in 2014  I have resolved to return to the task in 2024.

Some things seem to have changed, some things seem to have stayed the same on Ashton New Road.

Manchester Arterial 2024 – A664

Posted on by modernmoocher

Having photographed the arterial roads of Manchester in 2014, I have resolved to return to the task in 2024.

Some things seem to have changed, some things seem to have stayed the same.

Pleasant Street Harpurhey – Manchester

Posted on by modernmoocher

Pleasant Street  Harpurhey M9 5XZ 

Walking along Rochdale Road yesterday, I was suddenly arrested by the Pleasant Street street sign.

Having already been suddenly arrested last week, by the Bland Close street sign.

With my expectations defined by the above definition, I ventured along the street in search of happy satisfaction.

Coincidentally – The 18th century entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood pioneered many of the marketing strategies used today, including the satisfaction or you money back guarantee, on the entire range of his pottery products. The money-back guarantee was also a major tool of early US mail order sales pioneers in the United States such as Richard Sears and Powel Crosley Jr. to win the confidence of consumers.

It is also a top tune by Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes!

In 1958 the street looked just like this:

Photo – L Kaye

Whilst ten tears later it looked just like this:

Photos – LH Price

Manchester Local Image Collection

However at someone between 1968 and 2024 the housing had been cleared away – also missing in action is the Golden Lion pub adjoining Pleasant Street on Rochdale Road.

The Golden Lion was a proper old pub on the very busy rochdale road in the Harpurhey area of Manchester. Once inside there was a decent lounge and a basic bar i had a drink in the lounge and this was quite a comfy room.


This pub was a Whitbread tied house and there were two real ales on the bar I had a drink of Chesters bitter and this was a nice drink the other beer was Chesters mild. I thought this was quite a nice pub but sadly this pub has now been pulled down in the name of progress.

Alan Winfield – 1992

So here we are here today – yesterday has long gone and tomorrow never knows no how.

What’s left to see?

Manchester Hand Car Wash

Manchester Tyres

Pleasant Street Allotments

The allotments have had issues with fly tipping back in 2021.

There is now a lockable barrier in place on the cobbled cul-de-sac.

Photo – Howard Bristol

It is understood that the heaps of rubbish, including bin bags full of waste and unwanted wood and cardboard, have been growing in recent weeks.

Howard Bristol, the Secretary of the Pleasant Street allotments committee, said the situation has been ongoing for some time but has worsened since the removal of nearby CCTV cameras.

He told the Evening News that the road has been – piling high with rubbish, and that the area also had issues with the woodland behind the allotments being used for drug dealing during summer.

Pat Karney, councillor for Harpurhey tweeted about the flytipping on Sunday, calling it – unbelievable and disgraceful.

He added that those responsible should be – locked up in Strangeways for a long time, before adding that the council will – get it cleared.

Manchester Evening News

How pleasant is/was Pleasant Street?

Google says wait until there are trees are in leaf and the sun shines in the bright blue sky.

Bland Close And Brown Street – Failsworth

Posted on by modernmoocher

What’s in a name?

Is there such a thing as nominative determinism when it comes to streets?

The naming of Bland Close as Bland Close seems to me to be an act of municipal cruelty, compounded by the addition of the adjoining Brown Street.

Having previously visited Blank Street in Ancoats I was eager to find out.

Statistically there are no anomalous details, which indicates any discernible difference between the streets and the surrounding area.

Streetcheck

On a February morning the streets were well behaved and consisted of a typical mix of nineteenth century terraces and postwar semis, the residents chatty and welcoming, whilst they went about their business.

There are different causes that can make a street name controversial:

  • A person, organisation or event who or which was once honoured with a street name is subsequently thought to not or no longer deserve one, for example because that person later turned out to be a criminal.
  • A group of street names – for example in a residential area, is deemed to be unrepresentative for the population of that place, region or country because some demographics are overrepresented and others underrepresented, for example, because a disproportionate number of streets are named after men, and few after women.

Wikipedia

Research has found that if you live on Pear Tree Lane your property is more likely to attract potential buyers and a higher price, than those living in a similar property on Crotch Lane.

What are the guidelines for street naming?

  • The exclusion or inclusion of certain numbers for cultural or religious reasons
  • The use of building names without numbers
  • New building or street names should not begin with The
  • The use of street names which include numbers that can confuse, for example – 20 Seven Foot Lane sounds the same as 27 Foot Lane
  • The use of the names of deceased people in the adoption of any street names. The reason for choosing a person’s name should be established in the council’s policy
  • The use of the name of a living person – it’s not recommended
  • The adoption of historic connotations by developers – guidance on this should be provided by the council to all developers through close liaison with local historic societies.
  • The use of national or local historic figures or events
  • The use of a name with Royal connotations – the Lord Chamberlain’s office must be contacted if a name has any reference to the Royal family or if the word ‘Royal’ is suggested.
  • The use of names and their combination with numbers that could be considered rude, obscene, and racist or contravene any aspect of the council’s equal opportunities policies
  • The use of names and their combination with numbers that could be easily vandalised or changed into any of the above, for example – Canal Turn
  • The use of names that can cause spelling or pronunciation problems
  • The use of names that can be construed to be used for advertising or commercial gain
  • The use of names would lead to variations in the use of punctuation as these can confuse or result in early demands for a change of address from occupiers.

Geo Place

So in summary the name Bland does not in my opinion represent the close’s appearance and may in fact detract from the value of the property and possibly the perception of the area.

Let’s take a look – see what you think.

Manchester Arterial 2024 – A635

Posted on by modernmoocher

Having photographed the arterial roads of Manchester in 2014, I have resolved to return to the task in 2024.

Some things seem to have changed, some things seem to have stayed the same.

Manchester Arterial 2024 – A57

Posted on by modernmoocher

Having photographed the arterial roads of Manchester in 2014, I have resolved to return to the task in 2024.

Some things seem to have changed, some things seem to have stayed the same.