England swings like a pendulum do...
... bobbies on bicycles, two by two.
Well actually just me, on a bike, alone.
Warning: This post will probably be mostly town planning.
I estimate about 15 miles today - Corsham and back. After another change of tyres (funny how it always takes longer when Andy's not here to do it for me) I set out, hoping not to get rained on. [Aside]Does anyone know how to gauge, sans gauge, tyre pressures?[/Aside] Luckily it brightened up and now it's nice and sunny. The cold and wind nearly put me off at the beginning but actually kept me cool. Though this meant I didn't drink any water so I may collapse in a dehydrated heap if I don't finish this post quickly enough :)
Not having cycled for a week (in fact I've been out hardly at all) I seem to have regained some of my energy, so it was quite easy and I felt like I could easily have gone much further. I'm still pleased with how easy it is to find cycling routes around here, but they could still do better in places - for example, when one is directed out onto a very busy 60mph section of the A4, sans cycle-lane.
Corsham's a curious mixture of military, railway, and rural. It really needs its train station back, and it's a shame that - as in other towns - huge amounts of new housing are being built without any enhancement of town-centre amenities. I think the planners' excuse is that there's no demand for amenities, but it rather robs the heart of a place. [Aside]I still haven't forgiven the planners here who decided a huge brown-field site, about 100 metres from the High Street, was 'too far' from the town centre to be used for commerical purposes, so it's all going to be residential...[/Aside]
I stopped to watch some rabbits playing in the garden of a big house - until I remembered that the place is owned by the MoD and beat a hasty exit lest they suspect me of spying. I was amused to see a military helicopter parked on what seemed to be a football field. It also struck me, not for the first time, how good the ex-MoD houses must be for families to live in - the Officers' Quarters, especially, although somewhat austere, are solidly built and well spaced out. Here, they even made a nod to the vernacular.
Next I explored the new housing estate, which somewhat strangely has a passable through-road. I'm not really a fan of developer-built houses, particularly as (presumably at the demand of the market) they're almost never remotely interesting architecturally [Exceptions, such as Accordia, tending to be hugely expensive] nor do they take the lead in new environmental innovations [But see for example Gusto Homes]. Nevertheless, I prefer the current vogue to the closely-crammed IdentiHutches of the last 5-15 years. [Earlier 1980s closes of larger houses do have a kind of retro charm, though]. Car parking is increasingly relegated to the rear, giving more open street-scenes and more attractive houses - most late 20th-century housing is hugely car-centred, the car[s] being either proudly displayed or carelessly plonked out front, depending on your outlook - although experience suggests that, unless forced to do so, a lot of people will be too lazy to drive around the back and walk to the house, preferring to abandon the car with two wheels on the verge, preferably on a T-junction, perhaps to give them every possible second for telly-watching.... [sorry] [/rant] ...
... There are a lot more attached houses these days too, which to my mind is preferable to nominally 'detached' houses that are barely far enough apart to walk between them.
... Current new-builds are almost all faux-Regency double-fronted symmetrical types. Whilst this is of course a dreadful pastiche, they do at least look more elegant than the houses of a few years back. The sheer volume of them might lead to a dimming of their appeal, though. I don't know if this is just a local thing (it is, at a push, semi-vernacular) or a national trend. There are also a lot more three-storey houses these days, which is a sensible use of space. [Though I still maintain it was wrong to allow them at the top of our hill, where they blot out the skyline and can be seen, literally, for miles around... That said, it gives a reassuring sense of orientation when, five or ten miles from home, I can look up and say "oh yes, it's over there"]
... I do like what I saw of the road layout though; the main street is a wide avenue (with the necessary trees), and there's plenty of built-in cycleway. Houses - or rather, garages - are often arranged around cobbled courtyards or sidestreets. Again, it's pastiche, but seems pleasant enough. I do hope it'll be mostly signed at 20mph and actually enforced. (The military/ex-military areas are signed with a pleasant "15mph - Children Playing").
L'anyhoodle, then I headed back home, taking a brief detour to visit two of my former homes, and my primary school. This was pleasant inasmuch as places are almost always more verdant as time goes on - except when a gung-ho new owner has a mania for grubbing up hedges and laying wall-to-wall block paving. I saw a particularly striking example of block paving, but the fact that I can't really remember where rather enforces the point I shall make in a couple of sentences' time. Interestingly, the row of bushes running down the centre (yes...) of my old street has developed into a dense hedge perhaps 15ft high. Well, the people on one side of the street never did get on well with those on the other side...
In general, I think I prefer where we are now; it's a little less Suburban Nowhereville than the other places [which may come as a shock to those who consider my current home Suburban Nowhereville, hey Andy?]; as far as I'm concerned the less time one has to spend driving along faceless estate roads to get home, the better. I absolutely residential streets should be limited to 20mph or so, but it'd be dreadfully dull to spend half an hour driving like that...
Anyway overall I suspect that one shouldn't spend one's life going back; it's always rather odd. It's rather sad to think that before long, going back to Cambridge might feel strange and unnatural too.
On which heartening note, I think I'll make some scrambled eggs.
---
Footnotes:
1. That took 42 minutes to write, you know!
2. I notice that even the police around here drive Honda CR-Vs; perhaps their popularity is attributable to Honda being a somewhat 'local' firm.
3. I noticed that Lexus are [is?] actually calling the RX an 'SUV'; didn't realise any manufacturers had adopted that formula in the UK.
---
Addenda:
1. I should have included Accordia as a mildly-eco development, too. Here are recent links: Home Design Awards, Guardian, Telegraph (from only this week, look at me being topical, and contains the only genuine photo of the place I've seen. Shame I never went there, though I suppose that would be best done once it's finished. Also a shame that I don't have any friends rich enough to live there and show me around! Note to anyone who thinks that Cambridge will automatically allow them to make friends with the middle and, dare I say, upper classes: don't. I suppose it makes you more likely to be in proximity to them, but you're pretty much on your own, which in my case means I'm still not married to some glorious girl whose family owns half a county. Or indeed half an acre, I'm not fussy. Well, I am. [/ramble]) (Oh, I didn't think any such thing, as far as I remember, but it'd be nice. Though I daresay some of my associates are middle-class. But I never got invited to any parties in castles. {Sorry M} [oi! I said '/ramble'!]
2. On a marginally related note, wtf?
3. I discovered the benefits of not shifting down too soon when cycling uphill, too.
4. Make that58 61 62 minutes.
Well actually just me, on a bike, alone.
Warning: This post will probably be mostly town planning.
I estimate about 15 miles today - Corsham and back. After another change of tyres (funny how it always takes longer when Andy's not here to do it for me) I set out, hoping not to get rained on. [Aside]Does anyone know how to gauge, sans gauge, tyre pressures?[/Aside] Luckily it brightened up and now it's nice and sunny. The cold and wind nearly put me off at the beginning but actually kept me cool. Though this meant I didn't drink any water so I may collapse in a dehydrated heap if I don't finish this post quickly enough :)
Not having cycled for a week (in fact I've been out hardly at all) I seem to have regained some of my energy, so it was quite easy and I felt like I could easily have gone much further. I'm still pleased with how easy it is to find cycling routes around here, but they could still do better in places - for example, when one is directed out onto a very busy 60mph section of the A4, sans cycle-lane.
Corsham's a curious mixture of military, railway, and rural. It really needs its train station back, and it's a shame that - as in other towns - huge amounts of new housing are being built without any enhancement of town-centre amenities. I think the planners' excuse is that there's no demand for amenities, but it rather robs the heart of a place. [Aside]I still haven't forgiven the planners here who decided a huge brown-field site, about 100 metres from the High Street, was 'too far' from the town centre to be used for commerical purposes, so it's all going to be residential...[/Aside]
I stopped to watch some rabbits playing in the garden of a big house - until I remembered that the place is owned by the MoD and beat a hasty exit lest they suspect me of spying. I was amused to see a military helicopter parked on what seemed to be a football field. It also struck me, not for the first time, how good the ex-MoD houses must be for families to live in - the Officers' Quarters, especially, although somewhat austere, are solidly built and well spaced out. Here, they even made a nod to the vernacular.
Next I explored the new housing estate, which somewhat strangely has a passable through-road. I'm not really a fan of developer-built houses, particularly as (presumably at the demand of the market) they're almost never remotely interesting architecturally [Exceptions, such as Accordia, tending to be hugely expensive] nor do they take the lead in new environmental innovations [But see for example Gusto Homes]. Nevertheless, I prefer the current vogue to the closely-crammed IdentiHutches of the last 5-15 years. [Earlier 1980s closes of larger houses do have a kind of retro charm, though]. Car parking is increasingly relegated to the rear, giving more open street-scenes and more attractive houses - most late 20th-century housing is hugely car-centred, the car[s] being either proudly displayed or carelessly plonked out front, depending on your outlook - although experience suggests that, unless forced to do so, a lot of people will be too lazy to drive around the back and walk to the house, preferring to abandon the car with two wheels on the verge, preferably on a T-junction, perhaps to give them every possible second for telly-watching.... [sorry] [/rant] ...
... There are a lot more attached houses these days too, which to my mind is preferable to nominally 'detached' houses that are barely far enough apart to walk between them.
... Current new-builds are almost all faux-Regency double-fronted symmetrical types. Whilst this is of course a dreadful pastiche, they do at least look more elegant than the houses of a few years back. The sheer volume of them might lead to a dimming of their appeal, though. I don't know if this is just a local thing (it is, at a push, semi-vernacular) or a national trend. There are also a lot more three-storey houses these days, which is a sensible use of space. [Though I still maintain it was wrong to allow them at the top of our hill, where they blot out the skyline and can be seen, literally, for miles around... That said, it gives a reassuring sense of orientation when, five or ten miles from home, I can look up and say "oh yes, it's over there"]
... I do like what I saw of the road layout though; the main street is a wide avenue (with the necessary trees), and there's plenty of built-in cycleway. Houses - or rather, garages - are often arranged around cobbled courtyards or sidestreets. Again, it's pastiche, but seems pleasant enough. I do hope it'll be mostly signed at 20mph and actually enforced. (The military/ex-military areas are signed with a pleasant "15mph - Children Playing").
L'anyhoodle, then I headed back home, taking a brief detour to visit two of my former homes, and my primary school. This was pleasant inasmuch as places are almost always more verdant as time goes on - except when a gung-ho new owner has a mania for grubbing up hedges and laying wall-to-wall block paving. I saw a particularly striking example of block paving, but the fact that I can't really remember where rather enforces the point I shall make in a couple of sentences' time. Interestingly, the row of bushes running down the centre (yes...) of my old street has developed into a dense hedge perhaps 15ft high. Well, the people on one side of the street never did get on well with those on the other side...
In general, I think I prefer where we are now; it's a little less Suburban Nowhereville than the other places [which may come as a shock to those who consider my current home Suburban Nowhereville, hey Andy?]; as far as I'm concerned the less time one has to spend driving along faceless estate roads to get home, the better. I absolutely residential streets should be limited to 20mph or so, but it'd be dreadfully dull to spend half an hour driving like that...
Anyway overall I suspect that one shouldn't spend one's life going back; it's always rather odd. It's rather sad to think that before long, going back to Cambridge might feel strange and unnatural too.
On which heartening note, I think I'll make some scrambled eggs.
---
Footnotes:
1. That took 42 minutes to write, you know!
2. I notice that even the police around here drive Honda CR-Vs; perhaps their popularity is attributable to Honda being a somewhat 'local' firm.
3. I noticed that Lexus are [is?] actually calling the RX an 'SUV'; didn't realise any manufacturers had adopted that formula in the UK.
---
Addenda:
1. I should have included Accordia as a mildly-eco development, too. Here are recent links: Home Design Awards, Guardian, Telegraph (from only this week, look at me being topical, and contains the only genuine photo of the place I've seen. Shame I never went there, though I suppose that would be best done once it's finished. Also a shame that I don't have any friends rich enough to live there and show me around! Note to anyone who thinks that Cambridge will automatically allow them to make friends with the middle and, dare I say, upper classes: don't. I suppose it makes you more likely to be in proximity to them, but you're pretty much on your own, which in my case means I'm still not married to some glorious girl whose family owns half a county. Or indeed half an acre, I'm not fussy. Well, I am. [/ramble]) (Oh, I didn't think any such thing, as far as I remember, but it'd be nice. Though I daresay some of my associates are middle-class. But I never got invited to any parties in castles. {Sorry M} [oi! I said '/ramble'!]
2. On a marginally related note, wtf?
3. I discovered the benefits of not shifting down too soon when cycling uphill, too.
4. Make that
posted by Z31 at 2:07 pm
2 Comments:
you should become a town planner at this rate.....
Incorrectly qualified, I fear!
As a further example of my feeling that one should question everything, I'm now wondering why we generally put washing machines on the floor. My legs are a bit stiff after the cycling, you see. I know there are people who see my having an 'opinion' on everything as one of my principal flaws, but I don't see why.
Some other interesting links from the Guardian's property section (the fact that it's under 'Shopping' amuses me...):
1. Earth-sheltered house
2. miscellaneous 'dream home' stuff.
3. town planning! A lot of stuff I agree with here.
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