And another year has quietly sidled out of sight since my last update on the Yorkshire Wildlife Park’s ongoing extension.
The June 2018 masterplan for the park extension. The park expansion can be found in the lower right, the older original part of the park can be found in the upper left.
Continue readingFrom Dunnet Beach into the bay.
A low pass over the shoreline of Dunnet Beach.
North to Sandsend via drone. The particular September day this was shot on was rather grey and flat.
A spot more drone footage, this time taken in the Yorkshire Dales.
And it’s another spot of video! This time taken from the air at Matthew’s Linn in the Kielder Forest Park!
Continue readingIt has – unsurprisingly – been some time since I was last able to document the state of Barnsley’s Glassworks project.
Current indicative occupancy plans.
The Lambra Road car park. Since my last visit a large amount of cladding has been added. This will have space for around 500 cars.
The rotunda for vehicle access to the carpark.
The south-west entrance taken from the Cheapside entrance to the Alhambra Centre. Since my last update the majority of the cladding has been completed however the windows have still not been fitted. There also seems to have been no movement on the covering for the covered walkway. To the upper centre right (just behind the Alhambra Centre sign), you can see the top of the newly cladded carpark.
A night shot of the south west entrance and potential future coffee shop. A large banner advertises a – possibly optimistic – 2021 opening.
The box that will become the Cineworld Cinema, taken from the northern entrance to the market. On completion the hoardings will be removed to reveal a new public area.
The site of the future public square. Behind are shops with the Cinema above and to the right of is the future covered walkway leading to more shops and the Lambra Road car park. The shop space on the right is currently earmarked for a TK Maxx. While this is still firmly a building site, it is far less chaotic with far less construction supplies than when I visited in late January.
The future bowling alley and restaurants from the west end of Kendray Street. Topped out and insulated, this is now awaiting the external cladding. Passage along Kendray Street towards the Interchange is now closed.
The Eldon Street side of the new bowling alley. In person the large, windowless upper wall looms over the street.
The Midland Street side of the bowling alley. The windows make this area less imposing than the Eldon Street side.
Another view of the Midland Street side of the bowling alley. The alley’s main entrance will be in the left hand side of this wall.
The side of the future cinema looming over Midland Street.
The Midland Street turning circle framed by the cinema (left) and the bowling alley buildings. This would be the natural access route for anyone arriving via the Interchange.
The cinema from the temporary footbridge over the railway. Between the cinema and the bowling alley you can see phase one’s new library building.
The rear of the cinema and shops as they face onto the railway. A service road will run between the building and the railway line.
The temporary footbridge over the railway. This has now closed for preparatory work for a replacement permanent structure.
The temporary footbridge and cinema from the station. Unfortunately, the industrial nature of the upper part of the cinema is somewhat uninviting though signage and lighting may change that.
I’m sure you’ll forgive my lack of commentary on the current crisis but – even on my most arrogant days – I don’t LARP as an epidemiologist.
I do, however, know when things have started to get weird. And 102.7 pence a litre for petrol is very weird indeed. I wonder how long until it’s back into double digits?
And back to Yorkshire Wildlife Park for another trip to visit the animals and to see the progress on their new expansion since last summer. Wherever possible, I have attempted to identify the elements shown from the various maps and presentations that are available on the internet however this is just a best-guess effort on my part.
Given the current circumstances, it’s likely to be my last trip for a while.
The current park is located in the upper left. The new area is being constructed in the lower right.
A map of the new area of the park. The majority of pictures will be from around the areas marked ‘A:A’ and ‘B:B’.
After my early January update, I had not planned on doing another of these until mid-February (at the earliest!). However, given the current pace of construction and the discovery of several new viewing location, I have had a change of heart.
The south-west entrance taken from the Cheapside Hill. Very little has happed over the last month and this unit appears to be waiting for it’s external cladding and glazing to be installed.
The south-west entrance with a better view of the canopy structure that will protect the pedestrian concourse form the elements.
The roof of the previous building taken from the Alhambra Centre’s rooftop carpark. To the right you can see the structure of the new carpark.
The new car park peaks over the top of the old. I believe that this has topped out and that there are no additional floors to be added.
The new car park. The core of the structure appears to be complete however the floors have yet to be installed.
The new Glassworks car park taken from the north-east end of the Alhambra Centre car park. It is significantly taller than anything in the immediate area.
A composite image taken from the Alhambra Centre car park entrance on Lambra Road. With the new structure, Lambra Road is significantly more canyon-like than before.
The east end of the car park and the centre frame for the car parks’ access rotunda.
The car park and rotunda. The car park access road will branch from Lambra Road at roughly the point where the left blue site offices are. This branch will also serve as access to the shopping centre’s goods access road.
The future bowling alley and restaurants from the west end of Kendray Street. In the past month the steel work has crept west across the site and the first elements of the Eldon Street frontage have been installed. Passage along Kendray Street towards the Interchange has also been reduced to a narrow pedestrian walkway.
A closeup of the bowling alley and restaurants’ structure from Kendray Street.
The east end of the bowling alley and restaurants’ structure. This area has now been closed to taxis and will, in the future, be landscaped as a pedestrian area at the west end of the new railway footbridge. The taxi rank will be retained (to the right) on Midland Street with the taxis returning along Midland Street to their destination.
Facing south along Midland Street. To the left is the Interchange. To the right is the structure of the new bowling alley and restaurant complex. Behind is the cinema, shopping centre, and carpark.
The north end of the cinema. This was taken approximately where the former junction to Midland Street from Kendray Street was located.
The north end of the cinema with the future access road to the left.
Panorama taken from the pedestrian footbridge over the railway.
From left to right:
The future square and shops – taken from about half way along Kendray Street. Like the shops on Cheapside, there has been very little change here over the past month.
The cinema, square and shops from the west end of Kendray Street. Now that the cinema has started to reach it’s final high you can see just how enclosed the square will be.
A ‘Henry Boot Construction’ information board as displayed on Kendray Street.