The new apartments down the hill are beginning to take shape. They're hard up against the basketball courts for the existing housing estate, an area that I've blogged before and where Olga occasionally finds balls to play with. It certainly changes the look of the courts, and I think if I lived in one of those units I might have some misgivings -- wouldn't it be pretty easy for someone to throw a ball through a window?
Here's the side facing what's known as Potteries Path, which runs between the housing estate and the high street, where the shops, train and tube station are. It's interesting how the apartments overhang the path. There was some confusion about a year ago over the ownership of the path and improvements the developer was going to make there -- I'm not sure how that ever got resolved, if it did, but the path looks the same as it always has.
Here's another part of the path, where someone set up a tent several years ago. I usually let Olga off her leash in this area -- after all, where's she going to go?
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And here's what it looks like behind the wall. As I understand it, there are eventually going to be 180 homes here.
We got a little bit of rain last night, thank goodness. It has been so dry here. The little tree that the council planted to replace the once-viney tree looks like it's struggling. I've taken it water a couple of times in a watering can, but I wish the people who live nearby would just run a hose out to it now and then. I'm not sure it's going to make it.
Speaking of our street, I noticed a couple of mornings ago that someone smashed out the windows of several parked cars overnight. I guess they were searching for valuables. Makes me glad I don't have a car.
I was in London earlier this week - first time in two years! How strange to go back - so much building; so many people; such life! That said, it was nice to return to Pembrokeshire
ReplyDeleteYes, that is strange about the new building overhanging the path. Maybe the path will be redone when the construction is complete. i wonder if apartments with a view of the basketball courts will cost more (or less).
ReplyDeleteI think you might be losing your touch Steve! That last picture is very skew whiff - unless of course there was a sudden violent shift in our Earth's tectonic plates.
ReplyDeleteThe top picture looks a lot like a new apartment building going up near my home. "Mine" is only three stories high (I think) and there seems to be spaces behind it for parking, which is great because it fronts onto the main road where parking isn't allowed. I'm not sure how many apartments but not as many as yours. 180 seems a LOT.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you look out for the street tree. We had a new tree planted by the landscapers recently and I noticed my across the street neighbor busy with a hose a few days later, when we'd had no rain. Glad to see it.
ReplyDeleteI love London’s mass transportation system and wouldn’t own a car if I lived there too.
ReplyDeleteYeah, cars are a problem in densely populated areas.
ReplyDelete180 new housing, amazing and hopefully near good public transport.
I would think if the building was allowed to overhang the path, the owners would be responsible to spruce it up and maintain it.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'd want to live in an apartment building that overlooks a basketball court. My brothers and friends played basketball out in front of our house when I was growing. My dad had put up a basketball hoop for them. I remember lots of running around out there, plenty of noise and rambunctious teenagers.
ReplyDeleteIt is so kind of you to water that little tree. I hope it survives and thrives.
I know that Tallahassee is not anywhere near the same as London in about ten billion ways but same there with construction. There are parts of town that I never drive in and I'm sure that if I did I would not recognize any landmarks at all because they have been so overtaken by huge projects.
ReplyDelete"When did they build that?" is what I am constantly saying when I drive places that I haven't been in awhile.
I don't think I'd like to walk on a walkway that is closed in on both sides. Noe escape from the bad guys!
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see how these apartments look when they are done. There is certainly a lot of construction going on all over the world.
ReplyDeleteI used to love to wander around and take pictures of industrial sites and machinery in New York City. There's something wondrous about it --
ReplyDeleteI'm always intrigued by those narrow lonely brick walled paths all over London. They make me think of crime stories from a costumed era. I don't think I'd venture down those paths alone. But with brave Olga at my side, well then.
ReplyDeleteI probably wouldn't own a car if I were in your circumstances, either... but where I live it's a necessity.
ReplyDeleteIt does my heart good that you take water to that tree.
Sweet Olga. 😊
Car vandalism is everywhere. In Spokane people who park on the street are at risk for having their catalytic converters stolen during the night. The thieves have it down to about 15 minutes from start to finish. The paths are interesting, I'm surprised they still exist and haven't been incorporated into building projects.
ReplyDeleteOur basketball hoop was affixed to the side of the house right outside my window & my brother & his friends thought it was GREAT fun to try to hit my window instead of the basket. Or they were crashing into the garage door. VERY noisy!
ReplyDeleteThat path doesn't look all that welcoming. When you mentioned that little tree, it reminded me that I bought a maple tree for my backyard. I'm so excited 😊
ReplyDeleteAll that brick! If that path was down here it would be a furnace in the summer. Very dry here too. Wish we would get some rain.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the note. I like the brick thos.
ReplyDeleteIf I lived in a city like London or NY, I wouldn't own a car either. It is kind of weird how the apartments overhang the path.
ReplyDeleteAn Absolutely Classic Olga Girl Moment There - Thanx For That Brother
ReplyDeleteCheers
Bike Shed: I can totally get how it would be exciting to visit here, and also nice to get away.
ReplyDeleteMitchell: It definitely doesn't seem appealing to live in one of those lower-level apartments with windows on the basketball court and the footpath.
YP: That's what happens when you stick your phone over a high wall and shoot blindly!
River: It IS a lot! There are going to be more buildings, and I'm not sure how tall any of them will ultimately be.
Boud: I wish we lived closer so I could water ours with a hose. Hauling water in a watering can isn't very convenient! (And it's hard to give a tree enough water using that method.)
Ed: It is AMAZING how convenient the mass transit is here!
Andrew: Part of what makes our area appealing is we have easy access to the tube, the overground and the Thameslink trains. Lots of transportation here.
Bob: Yeah, I have no idea how that works! There was a plant to improve the path but that may have changed with the ownership confusion.
Robin: Yeah, even if they're not throwing balls at (or in) your windows, they're bound to be making a lot of noise!
Ms Moon: It's disorienting to live in a place where so much change happens. I have that feeling every time I go back to Florida!
Red: It IS a little claustrophobic but at least it's relatively clean.
Sharon: It seems that way, doesn't it? Where are all these people coming from?!
Elizabeth: Industry is interesting to those of us who don't work in it. I suspect people who work in construction would find a construction site utterly pedestrian.
37P: Olga would be useless in the event of any attack by a criminal! I don't feel too uncomfortable on this particular path, but some of them are narrower and have obstructions or partial obstructions (like lots of bushes) and they can be scary.
Kelly: Yeah, I know. In most places in the states you just have to have one. We owned cars when we lived in New Jersey. There was no other option.
Allison: I've read about those catalytic converter thefts in the states but I haven't heard about that happening here. I wonder if it does?
Bug: Making lots of noise just amplifies the fun!
Pixie: Be sure to show us your new tree when you get it planted!
Ellen: Yeah, that kind of construction definitely wouldn't work in the American South! It WOULD be an oven.
Mage: The brick is better than bare concrete.
Michael: I'll be interested to see how that looks when the building is done. How weird it would be to live in one of those units with people walking right below your window.
Padre: She was annoyed that I'd asked her to "stay." You can tell she's thinking, "WHY?!"
Right now, I'd be glad to share our rain though I feel a little bad saying that when so many places are in drought and who knows, in another week might be wishing for it! We're seeing a lot of building here too -- and I'm not sure who all is going to live there, since the population is going down and they are making kids live in the dorm at the U two years now instead of one. Or, if people move to a new spot, who moves in there? Even in our safe little neighborhood, we periodically get car break-ins but usually only if they are left unlocked. No window bashing.
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