Clock Towers

At the top of the hill overlooking Morecambe Bay stands Grange Over Sands Clock Tower.  Don't get the impression there is much sand here by the town's name as it refers to the old cross sands route across the bay which took miles and hours off a stage coach journey.  A beautiful but not benign bay full of shifting sands and channels so a guide is an essential when making a crossing today and he lives down by the bay's edge about a mile away from this point. 

The wall around the clock tower has a plaque which tells the history behind the Clock Tower.  Travelling about 250 miles south and

a larger, and much more famous clock tower is Big Ben in London whose chimes first rang out in July 1895. The building in the foreground is Westminster Hall, the oldest building of Parliament being built in 1097 and an appropriate place for the statue of Oliver Cromwell head of the Parliamentary forces in the 17th Century English Civil War and ultimately head of the government.  To climb the 399 steps of Big Ben and see the clock workings and the view the only way is to contact your local Member of Parliament to be able to join a tour although there is a long waiting list open only to UK residents.

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But this Clock Tower despite having what looks like a wonderful viewing platform at the top isn't open at all. Built in 1938-9 and inspired by Hilversum Town Hall in the Netherlands it was originally Greenwich Town Hall (today it is now business offices) and is called Meridian House for the Greenwich Meridian line is just a short walk away.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet this week sojourning at C here

Port Sunlight

One of the finest surviving industrial garden villages in the UK is that of Port Sunlight. Founded in 1888 by William Hesketh Lever, the "soap king"  its location the result of him looking for somewhere to build a new soap works and house his employees. At that time this area on the Wirral was marshy farmland and tidal creeks but Lever saw its both as a potential source of labour and also good connections by road and rail.

Although Lever made his fortune by manufacturing soap he would have loved to be an architect so he wanted his workers village to be a pleasant place to live and be of the finest of the architecture of the time. In this pursuit he employed over a dozen different architectural practices.

One of which was his godson James Lomax-Simpson who built the houses along the long and extensive  King George's Dive here.  The timber frame house on the left of this photograph is now a holiday home.

At the end of the drive is the Art Gallery which houses Lever's huge collection of pottery, paintings and furniture. He collected so much he ran out of room in all his houses.  The gallery was built in memory of his adored wife, Elizabeth,  Lady Lever (who died in 1913) who he called his "better three-quarters".

They lie together in the churchyard of the church which was built for all denominations. The signpost outside the mausoleum is just a simple sign that says "The Founder".  When Lever was knighted he became Lord Leverhulme, which was the combination of their two surnames (Lever and Hulme).

Lever's social and romantic ideals makes the village an unique place.  The health and education of the workers at the time was far superior to those in the nearby cities. The external look of the village has been preserved since the death of Lever in 1925. Set in 130 acres of parkland there are over 900 houses and 12 public buildings now looked after by the Port Sunlight Trust.

The present home of the NatWest Bank was the Girls' Hostel (built 1896) originally built as a a hostel for the female employees travelling from Liverpool.

What I liked about the village was the variety of architecture, as can be seen at the time it was built there was much influence from of the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Alas although I can show some of the housing styles I can't show the Port Sunlight Swimming Pool which was an open-air pool and, like the majority of them in the UK, it does not survive.  I am told by someone who was born, married and lives in the village it was wonderfully place to swim as it was heated by underground pipes from the Glycerine Works in the factory .

So there you have it, a village built on soap.  Lever was famous for his use of advertising and spent millions. His famous quote is as true today as it was in the 19th century "I know half my advertising isn't working, I just don't know which half"

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet this week sojourning at P here

Libraries Through the Lens

Squeezed in between more modern structures this little building caught my attention while in London at the weekend.  I wondered what it was, but not for long,  because the sign above the left door says "Public Library".  Looks very inviting doesn't it?  The architect was Sir Alfred Brumwell Thomas (1868-1948) who was, as can be seen, a fan of the baroque revival style. Built at the beginning of the 20th Century it is one of the libraries funded by the great philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. He rarely turned down requests for a grant to build a library , the only stipulation was that the local authority would fund its upkeep.  Large parts of the English speaking world have Carnegie Libraries, including my own town. If he was around today doing the same thing these buildings would be very functional but most that were built under his inspired idea to give access to books to all were places you could both learn and dream.   What other purpose could that cupola have but be one to dream under especially when it looks like this inside

This interior view is from The Greenwich Phantom's blog who marvels at the three domes in one building here and appropriately calls it a Greenwich Secret.  If I had known there was such an interior I would have made my way through that public library door to marvel.

Built on a rather grander scale is Liverpool's Central Library, the largest of the cities 22 libraries. It is located in the rows of classical buildings on William Brown Street and has recently been reopened after extensive interior refurbishment last year. I think the rotunda is the reading room but the entrance is the one with the umbrella tables on the left. How very civilized, you could sit and read your book there in the sunshine. The refurbishment also introduced a roof terrace where views of the city can be gained and a literary pavement into the building which can be seen on the BBC's 'In Pictures' views of the £50M restoration here. Always a joy to hear about restoration rather than closure of a library.

 Lastly we have Winchester Library which has been re-branded as the Winchester Discovery Centre, the photo taken at sunset when the exterior floodlights were coming on.  Located in a building that is a former Corn Exchange from 1838, like the other libraries I have shown it is a listed building, but unlike the others its one I have actually been inside.  It is both a lending and reference library but they also have a small art gallery on the top floor with a interesting exhibition programme,

Demco Interiors photograph

up those stairs. It also has a performance hall, shop and café;  lots of discovering time could be spent in here. 

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at L here.

 

          

Railway Reflection

The Oxford Road Railway Station reflecting its surrounding in the late afternoon sun.  The original station on this site was opened in 1849 but became dilapidated and was demolished when the line was electrified and modernised, being rebuilt in 1960 (and  recently refurbished in 2004).  I have not been able to find a photograph of the 19th Century station but it was lucky to be rebuilt before the mid 60s and concrete brutalism. The architect Max Clendinning was joined by the structural engineer Hugh Tottenham of the Timber Development Association whose timber shell roof and this laminated timber façade make it so distinctive.  Rather than reverse the time in ones head from the reflection, turn around and see

the clock tower and the correct time.

Express Sprinter waiting at Oxford Road

The curved wooden beams inside the station support the canopy and there have been later additions of waiting shelters in the same theme

who occupants may be reflecting on when their train might arrive. 

To see what the clock tower is attached to one must walk away from the station and see it soaring above what was the Refuge Assurance Building built by Alfred Waterhouse in the 1890s and then later in 1910-12 a 217 ft (66m) clock tower and extension along Oxford Road was built by his son John. Refuge Assurance occupied the building for nearly a century but today it is the Palace Hotel a short walk from the ornate

entrance (still with the Refuge name on the stonework), to the railway station or vice-versa.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet sojourning this week at R