Saturday 7 September 2013

A rather boring post for tourists


For about 35 years or more, me and quite a few other residents of Bath have been saying what a waste of a wonderful space the colonnades next to the weir on the river is, especially as they are right in the heart of the city centre.

The area used to be part of the Guildhall Market, and in late Georgian times, the market itself rivalled or exceeded all of the largest of the London ones, with almost 800 traders under one roof. There was even a slaughterhouse right next to the meat stalls, and plenty of space for cattle a little further down river to the North.

The area could be approached from a variety of angles, including the river itself, or by Boat Yard Lane, which lead to and through the only remaining medieval gate left in the city - Eastgate. There is a network of underground passages which lead almost to (and, rumour has it - beyond) the Abbey, long since blocked off for H & S reasons.

Behind those columns are a series of massive, stone-arched rooms with steel grilles to keep people out and animals in, and each one of them would make a fantastic shop or restaurant of extremely good size and proportions. A large streets runs over the top of them, following the river and it is supported by those arches and columns.

A mate of mine is a town councillor, and we decided to try and push for something to be done with this unique space which has lain idle and neglected since Victorian times, and I tried to line-up a local builder and architect to push-start the concept, but the builder was a lot less naive than I am, and doubted that he would ever get a look-in on this prime piece of real-estate. I think he was right.

When at a party a few months ago, I met the Leader of the Council and started lobbying him on doing something about this appalling waste of space. He gave me a look of all- knowingness, and said that the matter was - in fact - already in hand.

They have just begun to roll out plans for the refurbishment of the area, to include shops and restaurants, and the architect's impression - a rather unimaginative impression - is shown below.

Bath - when I first moved here - was essentially a retirement town for the well-to-do, but now - thanks in no small part to Jane bloody Austen - tourism has picked up following the brief lull caused by the aftermath of panic due to 9/11, and the town is packed, Summer and Winter. Bath is a very rich council compared to most.

It has though, rested on it's laurels inherited with the Roman excavations which, not too long ago, were the second most visited attraction in the UK, and has always been a bit late in exploiting it's natural assets.

Green Eyes is - as I write - in Pula, Slovenia, partying in a Roman Colosseum of about the same size as the one in Rome itself. I visited Pula twice about 25 years ago, and even then it had various pizza restaurants and clothes boutiques set within the massive stone arches of the 15 foot thick walls.

She showed me photos of last year's party, and I was amazed at the organised use of the space, with coloured lighting, stages for bands and super-safe security. A massive investment and income for what is quite a poor country from the former Eastern Block - even though Venice is only a short boat trip away across the Adriatic.

Sleepy old Bath is just beginning to make use of some of it's traditional assets which belong to the town (or 'city' as it is supposed to be called), and I hope I stay awake long enough to visit the Colonnades - preferably approaching by river, even though I live on the same side.

The launch of this project is aimed at investors who have both the resources to carry it through and also - hopefully - the taste to carry it through properly. I fear the same old faces will turn up from all over the country and I hope the council has the guts to turn them down in favour of local businesses.

We - and you if you come here - will find out somewhere between 2015 and 2016.


19 comments:

  1. Café Rouge, Starbucks, Browns, I do hope not.

    Where I was at school there was a cathedral which at some time in its history had been used as an indoor market. The ruts from horse and ox carts are still there. Not a bad idea; food Mon to Thur, God Fri to Sun.

    Have a good holiday!

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    1. By the way... Cro's holiday advice: Take half the amount of clothes you think you'll need, and twice the amount of money!

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    2. I believe I have already taken that advice - very few clothes and about£1000.

      We have all those shops here already, and Zara has gone bankrupt. Fingers crossed.

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  2. Whatever becomes of it, I really do hope that they do it justice.
    Hope that Green Eyes is having fun in Pula...... that's where we were in early July....I still haven't put my photos on my blog yet !
    Wishing you and HI a wonderful holiday. XXXX

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  3. What are you doing writing a blog when you are supposed to be preparing for a holiday; I hope that you are not addicted to blogging are you ?

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    1. Both. My preparations are ongoing (washing smalls right now) and I'll still have time for one more most before we go. Addicted? Moi?

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  4. I'm watching a local, two block project, finally getting started. The city invested in buying and razing all the tacky 1970's construction just before the last president's team induced the world wide financial collapse. All the money, expertise and will has come together in the last year and earth is being moved.

    Nice to know such activity is a world wide phenomenon. Or a couple of countries-wide. 2015/2016 could be pretty good years.

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    1. Yep - it's all down to money and sometimes - if it weren't for people like you - money dictates the crappiest of conversions.

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  5. If we find a place to anchor, I will take a look at it on 28.9.2013 - imagination I bring as luggage.
    (In lovely old Lüneburg they pressed a Starbucks into a very old historical facade - Starbucks in many places in Germany as pimples on the town's face).
    Have a fine holiday!

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    1. Thanks Britta. Give me a call when you get here, and we'll meet for a drink again? (This time with Hans to spoil our fun). The worst I have seen is a mobile phone warehouse in a Tudor half-timbered building in Oxford.

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  6. I will call - but Hans is not on the boat, he has to finish writing his essay on luxury. The 'crew' are four other guys, and I just fitted in, because another one had to cancel.

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  7. Bath modernise?? You will have Jane Austen et al turning in their graves.

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    1. Not modernise, just carry on using the space, that's all.

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  8. I fear Cro may be right in the Starbucks department, although they may be forced to write their sign in a nice Regency typeface. Sorry - I refuse to use the f(ont) word. Have a great holiday.

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    1. Thanks, Em, but Starbucks have been here for years. I know how to deal with Starbucks (I don't go there!), but although I have met the founder of Browns, I don't know how to deal with them.

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  9. Now there's a funny thing: This afternoon I read your post, and this evening I was watching Les Miserables. And there is (your favorite) Russell Crowe jumping to his death into the waters below the colonnades. Ha!!

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    1. It would have been funnier if Russell Crowe had really jumped to his death. I was there when they were filming (I live right next to it) and they used a stunt-man instead. The poor bloke kept throwing himself in the water all night until they got it right.

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