Four Columns Three Places

In a recent post I referenced the disappearance of post offices on English high streets.  Here in Locke Park there are four columns which come from the original post office in Barnsley.  So the dismantling of post offices has been going on for a while.

It put me in mind of four columns above Interstate 5 in Seattle.  They came from Plymouth Congregational Church in downtown when it was rebuilt after an earthquake.

(before and after)

And these four columns from the original University of Washington portico

Washington Territorial University, 1861 at what is now 4th and University Streets downtown Seattle.  Hand-fluted cedar columns moved to the UW's current location, erected in 191l.  Moved again when it was determined their design was not in keeping with the collegiate Gothic of the UW's quad buildings, so in 1920:

"To resolve the conflict, Carl F. Gould, then head of the architecture department and unofficial campus architect, organized a student design competition for the relocation of the columns. Sophomore Marshall W. Gill, son of Seattle Mayor Hiram Gill, won first prize for his design incorporating the columns into a Sylvan Theater. In the spring of 1921, under the watchful eyes of an alumni committee from the Class of 1911, the columns finally found a permanent home in Sylvan Grove."  UW Office of Ceremonies.

From pillar to post

Times are changing – former postmasters Brenda and Tom English at the old Great Haywood post office in Trent Lane, which moved to the Spar Shop in Main Road, Great Haywood. It had traded in Trent Lane for 106 years

Wolverhampton’s post office, in Lichfield Street, closed and moved to the Nisa Local Store

(Thank you to Express and Star for their photos and coverage of this issue)

“Once the post office closes, it’s lost from the high street forever. If the private company that has taken the post office into the shop closes it, then it’s gone forever.

“It’s taking the post office off the high street and putting it into the back of convenience stores. They hope to get a footfall increase in their shops.” 

Sound familiar?  We had a post office in the Red Apple.  When the Red Apple closed, the post office closed, too.  Now we have a privatized service which doesn't seem as busy--people don't linger as long.

Click here to read about the evolution of post offices from the centre of the high street to the back of the shop in the midlands region of England.  Some of these post offices are over 100 years old.

"Since April 2012, decisions have been made to relocate or refurbish 72 branches in areas of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire and the Black Country – with further proposals on the table for others.

A total of 17 post offices have either closed or been earmarked for closure following public consultation, with some yet to move."

Are post offices just an anachronism?  Going the way of dinosaurs?What do we need in our neighborhood's center to keep it's heart beating?

Queen Elizabeth of Hardwick Hall

I realize this has nothing to do with cities, suburbia, planning and community, but.

Isn't there always a lesson in looking at something closely?

In a world before billboards, tv ads and groupon, there was the portrait.  This one by Nicholas Hilliard hangs in Hardwick Hall, subject of an earlier post here.  It is, of course, Queen Elizabeth.

Her detailed skirt reveals her to be ruler of everything on land and sea, including some things that look as though they don't belong in either place.  Sharp toothed dolphins, sea monsters, snakes, water birds and many varieties of flowers.

This website contains close-ups of a number of wonderful paintings, including this one:

http://largesizepaintings.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/nicholas-hilliard-elizabeth-i-1599-1600.html#comment-form

Parking Lot

Finding a place to Park.

Hardwick Hall February 27

Magnificent Elizabethan Hardwick Hall on a sunny day.  Also known as "Malfoy Manor" from the Harry Potter movies.

"Hardwick Hall, More Glass than Wall." 

  Chimneys were inserted into the walls to allow for more window space.  

Home of Bess Hardwick, second only to Queen Elizabeth 1 in richest women of the day. Married four times.  Who seemed to devote every detail of the home's interiors to the eventual day when Queen Elizabeth would pay her a visit.  It never happened.  It advertises Bess's loyalty and fidelity to the Queen.  As you get closer to the building the strange crenellated forms along the roof which look like shards left by a shelling that somehow left the building itself intact--resolve themselves into Bess's initials, a shout-out to Elizabeth the Queen.

Parts of a beautiful frieze featuring Diana, Goddess of the Hunt and ubiquitous stags, the Hardwick coat-of-arms.

It is perhaps fitting, given Bess's patience and perseverance in waiting for Elizabeth the Queen (not to mention real poignancy) that "The embroidered panel (below) tells the story of Penelope, the loyal wife of Ulysses, who remained faithful to her husband during the ten years it took him to return from the Trojan war. To Penelope's right is Perseverans, holding an eagle that is striving to reach the sun and on her left is Paciens with a lamb reaching up to her."

Click here to visit a blog about conserving Hardwick tapestries "View from My Attic" written by a newly-minted conservator at Hardwick Hall.

Over and over again you are reminded that this is indeed the "Finest needlework collection in the UK."

Locke Park

February 26 I arrive at Heathrow where I'm met by Melly and Eva and whisked off to Barnsley.

We walk in Locke Park with Alfy, the neighbor's dog.  It's half-term and the children are out on the fine  sunny day in droves.

Here's Piper with Alfy in 2012.

And here is more of Locke Park.

Out my bedroom window this morning.

Named for Joseph Locke, who was a railway engineer raised in Barnsley.  According to Wikipedia:

"Joseph Locke (9 August 1805 – 18 September 1860) was a notable English civil engineer of the 19th century, particularly associated with railway projects. Locke ranked alongside Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel as one of the major pioneers of railway development."

I knew him by the infamous story of the accidental death of William Huskisson, MP for Liverpool.

"When the (Liverpool Manchester) line was finally opened in 1830, it was planned for a procession of eight trains to travel from Liverpool to Manchester and back. George Stephenson drove the leading locomotive “Northumbrian” and Joseph Locke drove “Rocket”. The day was marred by the death ofWilliam Huskisson, the Member of Parliament for Liverpool, who was struck and killed by “Rocket”."

"The (Manchester Sheffield line) project included the three-mileWoodhead Tunnel, and the the building of the line required over a thousand navvies and cost the lives of thirty-two of them, seriously injuring 140 others. The Woodhead Tunnel was such a difficult undertaking that George Stephenson claimed that it could not be done, declaring that he would eat the first locomotive that got through the tunnel. It was estimated that the mortality amongst the navvies at the Woodhead Tunnel was just over 3 per cent, whereas the mortality amongst soldiers at the Battle of Waterloo was only 2.11 per cent.^[3]"

An observation tower was erected by Sarah McCreerey in memory of her sister, Phoebe, the widow of Joseph Locke, and donor of the land for the park.

Here is Locke Park's bonfire night last year:

  There is also a Ghost Walk and a Park Run held the first Saturday of each month.  Speaking of ghosts, an old "not very nice" lady lived in this park gatehouse.  She paid 4.50 a week in rent and believed herself to be the lover of Placido Domingo.  He sent her "packages" which were "signed" by him in her handwriting.  It is now derelict.

Arrival February 26: Getting My Bearings

 Park Road in Barnsley, running between houses and church, allotments and Locke Park.

 Melly's house

 Next door

 The Church

 Looking down the street towards the park

The view of Barnsley from Melly's house