Demolition Row in Bracknell

Demolition Row in Bracknell Town Centre. 550,000 square foot of low quality shopping centre to be replaced by something better including a Cineworld, an M&S, and new shops. Demolition will start in July and carry on until October.

Some shop keepers told customers, before closing, that rents are going up a lot. So some of them won't be back.

I could not believe there was such a desolate area when I started working nearby last year - not knowing that shops were being cleared as leases came up for renewal, and so more and more were empty or short term let. Now they are all empty. Upstairs walkways are cordoned off and workmen have started the process . I guess there is lot of asbestos that needs removing first.

Bracknell Town Centre Tree Sculptures

My six months working at Bracknell has come to an end. About halfway through my time there I saw the plans to redevelop some of the town centre. This included a cinema and M & S in a prominent position. But what I did not see talked about was the fate of all the small trees that lined the precincts.

They all had ther branches chopped off last autumn.
Then yesterday two of them were getting carved into street art.

One had an owl on top. The other was a swirly stick.

Anywhere but Costa

We went into Ulverstone this morning and decided after shopping to meet up for a coffee.

My Mother-in-Law, said she did not mind where we went but she would never talk to us again if we went to the new Costa.

Costa takes up three shop fronts on Brogden Street. The premises was previously a Halifax Bank and estate agents.

Mother in Law had said "It had no place in a Market Town like Ulverstone. It will endanger the small family run businesses."

So we had a number of small cafes and tea rooms to choose from, and in the end ...

we went to the Mad Hatter's Tearooms.

Easter Monday with Laurel and Hardy

Within close proximity to the Lake District, the town of Ulverstone has had a museum dedicated to Laurel and Hardy since 1983. Back then there were a couple of rooms with pictures and news clippings pasted round the walls by an enthusiast.

Stan Laurel was born in Ulverstone in 1890 and lived his first six years in Foundry Cottages, now renamed as Argyll Street ... at number 3.

The museum has since moved to larger premises in part of the Roxy Cinema, and is run by the Grandson of the original enthusiast.

Mark, the Grandson, would still like to recreate the original museum in one area but it is not proving easy ... moving paper pasted to walls.

I dare say he should take inspiration from "Laurel and Hardy". They knew how to move things.

At the original museum, and the new one, there is a chance to watch Laurel and Hardy movies, which are still very funny - or at least I found them so.

Didcot A Final Steam Day

Didcot A Coal Fire Power Station with its six large cooling towers will stop generating electricity within the next 24 hours. The more efficient Didcot B Gas powered station will carry on, but their mini cooling towers don't dominate the landscape for miles around.

Didcot Parkway to Bracknell and back

I've been working in Bracknell since the start of November, travelling down by car. The M4 round Reading is dire at that time in the morning, and if one morning the M4 turns out good the A329M will be even more dire. The exit from Bracknell can also be dire later in the day. On one occasion it took me 2 hours to do 2 miles.

But now thanks to the internet I can get train tickets that work out cheaper then going by car with the £6 parking at Bracknell. And they allow me to read books - a pleasure I don't usually allow myself.

I also have started to cycle the few miles to Didcot, cutting out any need to go the gym (another saving).

Then on the way back I get absorbed, wherever I am, reading my book. It is so much better than making my way round those horrible roundabouts through backed up traffic telling myself I should have gone the other way. I have 3 routes out of Bracknell.

More of Bracknell anon. The shopping centre needs a bomb dropping on it. But they have a regeneration project which I am starting to follow with interest.

HMV Christmas gift cards have been declared worthless by the heartless administrator Deloitte

I did pop into HMV for what could be a last look round the shop that once faced the Virgin Mega Store across Cornmarket. How are the mighty fallen.

The Guardian reported today "Thames Valley police confirmed that they had been called to an incident at an HMV store in Oxford after a dispute over a gift card between two customers and staff. Holders of gift cards are particularly frustrated as HMV continued selling them and vouchers after warning investors on 13 December that the group expected to face a solvency crisis by the end of January."

Moving On at Kenley and Purley Methodist Church

"After much exploration and prayer, at the Church Council held on 25 February 2012 the Church resolved that it would cease to function as a local church after 25 November 2012. Moving On was the theme for the last service held at Kenley and Purley Methodist Church on Sunday, 25 November 2012. It was wonderful to see the church packed, and to hear the memories of over 100 years of witness and service in that place."

I had a friend who said her mum and dad went to this methodist church but that they were an ageing shrinking congregation.

Now I read ...  "For Sale Freehold Price £700,000.00 (Offers in excess of.)

Substantial church property with adjacent hall and various meeting rooms and ancillary areas. redevelopment potential subject to planning consent. site area 0.34 acres ( 0.137 hectares) approx.

Not just loosing a church but also a community space.

Swarthmoor Hall Revisited

This Elizebethan Manor House in Ulverston, Cumbria was the home of Judge and Margaret Fell. Here George Fox found a place to rest and be among friends in the years around 1650 when the Quaker founder was often the subject of persecution

We often visit, and look round the old house - just half a mile from the house of my parent's in law. Swarthmoor Hall has been furnished with artifacts from George Fox's time. But it is more than a living musuem. The long barn alongside has been rebuilt as a place of study and retreat where people can come, like George Fox, to find peace among friends.

In Cambridge not Oxford for a change

After a family event in Bury St Edmunds we booked in to St Johns College (for B&B during the student vacation) in  Cambridge.

This was one of the views of our B & B - the Bridge of Sighs.

In the zoological museum we saw what could have been an extra-terrestrial in a preserving solution.

I enjoyed the quiet of the botanical gardens and walking round on the grass - barefoot - looking at the flowers in the systematic beds.

Also very much enjoyed Kettles Yard, a house crammed with modern art from about thirty or fourty years ago. Very relaxed as you can sit in easy chairs or browse books from the shelves as long as you like.

Saw the iconic view of Kings College from the Backs.

But did not punt - the venders were just too pushy everywhere we went. I have never noticed them being that pushy in Oxford.