Abbey Foregate and A Little White Lie

In architecture, as in all things, a little white lie is often better than the truth.

I say this as someone who, over these past few weeks in this column, has often touched upon the thorny subject of what makes a building 'historic' or of 'historic value' - and also as someone who likes to ask the question: Do unwanted ugly buildings deserve to be preserved just as much as unwanted beautiful buildings?

In other words, we all love Rowley's House, Bear Steps and St Chad's. But does anyone care very much when the Midland Red bus garage in Ditherington is smashed to the ground? Would anyone worry if there were plans to demolish the old Woolworth's building in Castle Street (yes, the one that replaced the lovely Raven Hotel)? Are tears likely to be shed if there are ever plans to sweep away the 1960s Shirehall next to Lord Hill's Column? And what about the domineering 1960s Market Hall clocktower? Would anyone care two hoots it that went?

What has prompted me to raise such questions again is the unveiling last week of a £4 million redevelopment plan for a stretch of Abbey Foregate.

Now, there are of course wonderful great stretches of Abbey Foregate which are unspoilt, rather lovely, and (by anyone's definition) historic. So which bit are we talking about here? We're talking about the Heaths Houses site, that bland stretch of sheltered housing across the road from The Cedars and which, if you are walking away from town, comes just before The Brick pub.

Severnside Housing announced back in June 2011 that it was closing the sheltered housing after failing to fill empty bedsits.

So far, 40 elderly residents have been moved to alternative accommodation, with another 16 due to be rehomed when suitable properties become available.

The plans for the redevelopment of the site have just gone on display. And having given them just a cursory glance, I have to say that what they have in mind looks very nice indeed. The proposal is for 41 houses and flats which could be completed by 2015.

There will be nine townhouses, seven of which will be for market sale, and 31 two-bedroom apartments, and a single one-bedroom apartment - all kind of mock-Georgian in appearance.

In short, the existing buildings, constructed in two phases in 1967 and 1988 and which never once pretended to be anything other than buildings of that time, will be swept away and replaced with much prettier buildings of 2015 but pretending to be from 1815.

And so a 1967 truth will be replaced by a 2015 lie. And hence my contention that a little white architectural lie can be better than the unattractive (and out-of-keeping with the rest of the road) truth.

Now, it's not that I always prefer a lie to the truth. Stay with me on this.

Whilst considering the pluses and minuses of various drinking hostelries he had known, the American writer Garrison Keillor once talked about the enchanting atmosphere of a genuinely old bar, a place which, in its time, had seen generations of drinkers come and go; a place in which the bar-stools are well worn from having had so many people sit upon them over the years. And his argument was that there is a world of difference between these old bars and the new bar which has a decor carefully designed to make it look as if it is old. 

He said (and I have never forgotten this) that it is like the difference between the truth and a lie.

On this I am as one with Garrison Keillor.

The new pubs can never be a match for the old pubs. The Beaten Track does not stack up against the Nag's Head or The Loggerheads or The Golden Cross or the Yorkshire House. Not because The Beaten Track is not a nice place - because actually it is. But because The Beaten Track is new. It might like to pretend that it's old with its fireplace and its soft lighting, but it's new. Simple as that. 

But now here is where I perhaps contradict myself (if I haven't done so already!) and possibly even show myself up to be a hypocrite.

My regular readers will know that I have been passionate about saving Besford House in Belle Vue, a Victorian mansion that had been under threat of demolition and replacement with new housing. So how can I now be supporting the demolition of Heaths Houses in Abbey Foregate and their replacement with new housing?

To me, this question is easily answered. Besford House is both (a) historic and (b) beautiful, and (c) would have been replaced by inferior buildings. On the other hand, Heaths Houses are (a) of no historic value and (b) ugly, and (c) will be replaced by superior housing.

Or am I indeed being a hypocrite? Answers on postcard please. (Or in a letter or an email).

Ditherington Bus Depot, Shrewsbury - Parts 1 & 2

OKAY. I’ll be honest with you. St Paul’s Cathedral it is not. And, frankly, it’s somewhat unlikely that anyone has ever stood back from the old bus garage in Ditherington and sighed in quiet admiration or said to their companion: “Wow! Just look at that. Isn’t it lovely?”.

Unlike old railway stations, bus depots are rarely – if ever – beautiful.

And the Ditherington depot is no exception to this rule.

Not even old Reg Varney and his chums from the seventies sitcom, On The Buses, would have found much to cheer about, I wouldn’t have thought, faced with the prospect of a working day based here. But I could be wrong. Perhaps many a bus driver out there actually has a soft spot for the place.

I don’t suppose it was ever attractive, but the bright turquoise paint of Arriva replacing the pillarbox red of Midland Red upon the large garage doors really hasn’t done it any favours.

But quite apart from that, it’s seen a lot of service over the years. And, hey – it’s a garage, for heaven’s sake. What do you expect? But the fact that its days are numbered has got me thinking. Will anyone shed a tear over its demise?

My first real contact with the place was when, at the age of 10, I went there one Sunday morning with my dad and my little brother. Our purpose? Bus spotting. No, really. You heard me.

I know. I know. I know.

There are plenty of people out there who find the idea of trainspotting difficult to grasp, but bus-spotting!

You might say it was a poor man’s trainspotting.

To spot buses you didn’t have to purchase a platform ticket. In fact, in most cases, you only really had to step outside your front door and you’d spot a bus!

Bus spotting can hardly be viewed as a glamorous past-time, but it kept us occupied for a while during the long summer holidays.

However, the novelty did wear off pretty quickly. When you’ve seen one S12 drive up North Street, you’ve more or less seen them all.

Gosh. There’s a thought, by the way. When did the last bus drive up North Street? (Someone out there will tell me, no doubt).

Here’s the thing though.

The Ditherington depot was opened by the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Ltd (BMMO – Midland Red) in November 1920.

Doesn’t the fact that it is over 90 years old coupled with the fact that it has had an important role to play in the life over Shrewsbury for generations make this a building of historical importance?

War

According to MidlandRed.net, the building was turned over to the war effort in 1940 for the production of aircraft components.

By 1974 it had an allocation of 68 vehicles and employed 198 staff.

The place clearly has a story to tell.

The fate of the Ditherington depot has of course been decided because a shiny new £2.5m depot has been opened in Harlescott so Arriva buses have no further use for the old place, and because the original base has been purchased by Shropshire Council (for £2.3m) so that the site can be cleared as part of the redevelopment of the Flax Mill Maltings complex.

And, to be fair, a globally-important 1796 building which is seen as the great-grand-daddy of all skyscrapers will always beat at 1920s bus depot. There again, history is history.

Now, to be honest, I am sort of playing devil’s advocate here because even I know that you can’t keep every building just because it’s kind of old and has a bit of a history. You might say any building more than 10 years old is kind of old and has a bit of a history.

But it is intriguing how some buildings immediately inspire affection (devotion even), such as Besford House in Belle Vue  about which I have written a good deal over recent weeks (and which now appears to have been saved from the bulldozers, thank goodness) while other structures generate little or nothing in the way of support.

For instance, I know a great many people who think the 1960s market hall in the town centre is a carbuncle and should never have been built in the first place. Many folk will tell you we should have kept the Victorian market hall which would have become a real asset in such an historic town.

But others maintain the sixties building has itself become iconic and must now be protected.

It’s quite a tricky argument to get involved in. I wonder what dear old Reg Varney would have made of it.

PART TWO.............

(TWO WEEKS LATER)............

MIXED FEELINGS OVER DEMOLITION

We human beings are a funny lot.  Believe it or not there are plenty of people out there who wouldn’t dream of curling up in front of an episode of Thunderbirds or Captain Scarlet.

And there are others too who would regard a warming supper of Marmite toast and a mug of hot milk with something less than enthusiasm.

Still. You can’t win ’em all.

By the same token, my column a fortnight ago about Shrewsbury’s old bus depot in Ditherington seemed to split opinion right down the middle.

Before I go any further, let me say right now that I was actually playing devil’s advocate in suggesting that this purely utilitarian 1920s structure should be saved from a date with the bulldozers and perhaps cherished as an integral part of Shrewsbury’s heritage.

Regular readers will know only too well that I am capable of getting very passionate about our old buildings.

I’m fascinated by history and believe it vitally important to preserve as much as we can, especially in a beautiful and historic town like ours.

But a dirty old bus garage?

Even I accept that sometimes the old has to make way for the new.

You simply cannot keep EVERY old building. If we did, our towns and cities would never move forward.

Certain criteria has to be applied.

Is it genuinely of historic value? Would losing it damage the beauty and/or integrity of an area?

I do think there is a world of difference between a bus depot and, for instance, a fine mansion such as Besford House in Belle Vue (about which I have written much, and the future of which looks a great deal more secure now than it did a few weeks ago).

If the bus garage could have been somehow incorporated into a tasteful redevelopment of the Ditherington area, then marvellous.

But I am willing to accept this was never going to be the case, and this time it was surely a situation where we might just have to shed a tear and move on.

But a whole range of comments left on the Shrewsbury Matters blog on the Shropshire Star website pointed to plenty of other points of view.

One reader had this to say: “The old railway buildings up Coton Hill have been converted into lovely houses and flats, the same could happen here given a good architect and sympathetic planning department.

“And just as the old railway buildings are part of the history of the town, so is the bus depot part of Ditherington's architectural heritage.”

Another reader said: “The powers that be appear more keen to raze than respect. The frontage of the bus depot is good and could certainly be used as an interesting entrance to the development in much the same way as the former AutoTyres building in Frankwell has been tied into the otherwise monstrous Theatre Severn.”

A reader who goes by the name of Tubleton wrote: “I would prefer to see the old bus depot kept as part of the overall redevelopment as I think it has something to offer.

“With the doors replaced by full length glazing and a new roof it could look impressive. The space could provide any number of uses with the skill and imagination of people much more talented than me. However, I could definitely see it taking on a role of 'Shrewsbury Arts Centre for example as I would imagine it would lend itself perfectly as a gallery style exhibition space.”

John Reece from Australia had this to say: “How about a Midland Red museum? Spent a few years there in the ‘60s during flower power time, sad to read about the building going, but then many other things do too. Happy memories of happy days. Regards to other drivers and clippies who see this.”

Another comment was left by Midland Fred: “What a lovely blog, a great pity there were no old Midland Red photos to go with it. . . I recall as far back as 1948 Midland Red buses lined up in the square – S1 Ragleth Gardens, S8 Kennedy Road, S13 Copthorne, cemetery, Weeping Cross, Harlescott – Oh those where the days. So farewell Ditherington bus depot, in my view you are twice the building behind you.”

Meanwhile, another (perhaps less sentimental) reader had this to say: “I’m glad it’s going, it’s an eyesore and clogs up the roads here. Will be much better as much needed affordable housing.”

So there you go. You can’t please all the people all the time. And in the end, all this chatter was purely academic anyway, as, within days of my article appearing, the old bus depot was demolished.

Dear old Reg Varney (and countless real-life bus drivers) will no doubt be turning in their graves.

But as I say – Time to move on.