Spot on John!
Massive urban redevelopment, demolition of swathes of sub-standard inner city housing, meeting the demands of a burgeoning middle class in the new suburbs and accommodating the needs of a relatively prosperous and fashionable population craving distraction and entertainment, were all accomplished with élan 250 years ago – so why not now?
I know that superficial comparisons are onerous but why is it that our city fathers have failed to grasp that we have a massive responsibility in nurturing a still relatively intact 18th Century streetscape whilst at the same time a duty to leave 21st Century structures that are exciting and aesthetically mind blowing for our descendants – look at the modernist/cubist work in Prague, the designs of Gaudi in Barcelona………. Are we incapable or unwilling to do this, or are we so wedded to the cheap and shoddy that we don’t give a damn?
Can anyone suggest a single building erected in Bath in the last 80 years that we can be truly proud of; a structure that fits comfortably within its surroundings but says “I’m proud of what I am and what I do and that no Georgian architect worth his pencil would think me a scar on the city”.
Got to start taking the tablets again – soap boxes don’t agree with me either!
True Bill, the rape of the colonies and other lands was
something of a British forte in the 17th-19th century. As you say it
furnished cities such as Bath and Clifton with fine terraces and crescents
and dare one say it a university (founded almost entirely on the wealth from
chocolate and tobacco). However, we are still an extremely wealthy
country today, and by reading comments in this discussion, many of us are
passionate about the city we grew up in, visit and/or love - it therefore
follows that architectural historians will judge this post-war period in Bath
as one of aesthetic poverty and rank carelessness. We have nothing to
show future generations about how we contributed positively to the evolution of
Bath (apart from perhaps cleaning up those soot/acid blackened Georgian
facades, some of which still linger in one or two places even today).
We were in town shopping on Saturday and it was about 6 pm when we decided to
go for a drink. There used to be a pub, which had an outside drinking
area at the back of the Octagon, and being a fairly sunny evening we headed in
that direction. Well, they have certainly tidied up that area. We
sat at a table and after about 10 minutes a sullen and very orange waitress
came to take our order......."a pint of best and a small Chardonnay"
say I. She mutters something on an intake of breath which (with my
failing hearing) I complete miss. After a deep and dismissive sigh she
gives a repeat performance and I am thus led to understand that I have a choice
of 3 very expensive continental "blonde" beers - nothing
Bath/English/British. My Peroni (is it called that?) arrives in what my
wife, in a sudden burst of impropriety, called a poofy glass. As I
suspected all gas and no flavour. Is this what we offer our foreign
visitors? Are we ashamed of Bath Ales? Even the waitresses affected
unidentifiable accents.
I've got to stop or I'll be a target for BNP recruitment - the tablets clearly aren’t
working at present but the soapbox is standing up rather well.
How about a new discussion on the best drinking hole in Bath?
Mike
Update: I have posted a message on both Forums in "Pub Pals" Bath Tech site to advise them of the funeral tomorrow.
- 8/18/2009 9:07:48 PM