It must have been a tremendous amount of work collect and catalogue and, for me, the most interesting years are 2004 and 2005 – the years that lead me to purchase my first Mac (and yes, I did buy into PPCafter the intel transition was announced!). I doubt it’ll last – Apple’s lawyers must be itching to write takedown notices – but while it’s there it’s an interesting place to poke around.
I still have that old first machine somewhere and I should dig it out; last time I checked (perhaps 5 years ago) it seemed to run ok. I do hope it’s still in something of a functional state.
Right click on the plan image and open in a new window to see a larger version.
A post Christmas update on the Glassworks development in Barnsley. A fair bit has happened since my last update in November; the mild winter weather and weekend working has allowed the installation of the steelwork to continue apace.
The now customary long shot of the south-west entrance taken from the Cheapside Hill. From this location the most visible change has been the installation of the purple insulation on the building by the entrance. Behind, we can see the increasing bulk of the car park (right) and the upper levels of the cinema (centre and left). Cheapside itself remains somewhat tired looking.
A closeup of the Cheapside steelworks. With a Q1 2021 target for opening it won’t be long before they start to install the external cladding. It’s also worth noting that the framing for the roof of the covered arcade appears to be just awaiting its glass.
The bowling alley and restaurants from the north side of Kendray Street. The steelwork continues to creep towards the Eldon Street end of the site. The bowling alley is to be run by Superbowl UK.
The bowling alley site frame from the corner of Kendray Street and Midland Street.
The bowling alley site from Midland Street. On completion of the project, Midland Street will be closed to traffic south of where the grey breeze block utility shed is located. A smaller plaza – bound on the north by Midland Street/Barnsley Interchange, the east by a new pedestrian footbridge over the railway, the south by the cinema and the west by the bowling alley – will cover the former road.
Saturday working on the bowling alley steel.
The site of the future public square is now level with the surrounding area. Behind and to the right you can see both newly installed windows and the continued installation of insulation on the west side of the new arcade. To the left, the east flank of the shopping centre/cinema continues to crawl north. In the rear centre, the structural steel for the roof of the arcade has been installed, linking both side of the arcade. At the back looms the structure of the carpark.
A slightly closer shot. The structure for the arcade roof is clearer here.
Steelwork being craned into place. You start to get a feel for just how parts of the site will loom over those at ground level.
Saturday working on the cinema end of the main site. Plans indicate there is still quite a lot of structure left to install here.
A panorama of the site.
From left to right:
Cinema/restaurants/shops structure (Back) Shops structure (Middle) Location of new public square (Front) Future location of the west end of the new footbridge over the railway Completed library Kendray Street Bowling alley and additional restaurants Existing transport hub
Coffee Boy, a new occupant of phase one situated on the corner of May Day Green and Cheapside. It appears to be a minor coffee franchise with a Starbucks feel. I cannot vouch for the quality of the coffee.
Video of Dalcairney Falls in South Ayrshire that I shot in early December 2019.
It was grey day (probably too grey!) with poor light (and I’m still figuring out DaVinci Resolve!) but I certainly don’t think it’s the worst piece of footage on YouTube.
A distinctly grey and autumnal update on the Barnsley Glass Works project and there has been quite a lot of progress on the site in the six weeks since I last blogged about it. I’ve also managed to dig up a copy of the plans (below) from the latest amendments to planning application.
Right click on the plan image and open in a new window to see a larger version.
Continued groundworks at the West Kendray Street entrance to the Bowling Ally site. In the background you can see two stories of steelwork above the new substation.
Bowling Ally steelwork (taken from the Kendray Street/Midland Street junction). The breeze block structure is the new substation constructed over the summer.
The body of the project as seen from the West end of Kendray Street. The mass of steelwork for the cinema (left) and new car park (rear) has increased substantially.
The new shops on the South side of the public square have started to receive their insulation. Behind the steel of the new car park looms.
Insulation installed on the shops that will be under the covered arcade.
In the foreground you can see additional steel beams for either the cinema, the pedestrian concourse or the arcade roof. To the rear is the row of shops that backs onto phase one’s market building.
What will become the cinema. The large gap between the current steel work and the white van will also become part of the cinema’s footprint.
Work vehicles on the east of the public square. Approximately where the red stop sign is will be where the town side of the new railway footbridge will end.
Steelwork as seen from Cheapside. In the immediate foreground Very little has changed however the frame for the carpark now looms in the background.
The project as seen from the railway footbridge.
A shot from part up Cheapside hill. The frames of both the carpark and the shops backing onto the railway can quite clearly now be seen.
A street level perspective on the new car park.
However, from the Cheapside/Queen Street/May Day Green junction the new construction is not yet visible.
Work seems to be progressing at quite a rate and – allowing for the trials of winter construction – it’s likely that by next summer the majority of the project will be heading towards completion. Then – inevitably – Barnsley’s centre of gravity will shift towards the new shopping arcade and away from the Alhambra Centre.
The question then becomes ‘What happens to the tatty, tired Alhambra Centre?’. It’s unlikely that a town with Barnsley’s size and economy can support two shopping precincts (especially next door to each other!) and so the older one is likely to fade away. Could it be knocked down and replaced? The Alhambra Centre plot is well situated for bus, road, and rail access and so the site could make a good location for future office space – and so bring important white collar employment to the town that a place like Barnsley has traditionally lacked.
But bringing a new employer like that into a region is tricky work and the competition from other local authorities would be tremendously fierce…
The ‘Mayflower’ steam locomotive changing direction on the turn table at York Station.
I like Steam – the sound, the smell, the sheer force of presence that comes from a visible engine pulling up to the platform you are on – far more than the modern trains I’ve taken for work and for leisure. I do under stand the practical reasons that they needed to be retired, but it still seems something of a loss. Perhaps when autonomous vehicles have destroyed mass transit, the remaining national railways can be converted to heritage lines and Steam can rise again…
Another collection of photos, this time from the lovely – but exceeding remote – Achnahaird Beach, deep in the Highlands of Scotland. I’m a great fan of heading out and getting away from people and my visit to Achnahaird (and the rest of this trip) really offered me the opportunity to do so.
