Now that I'm walking to and from work, I'm catching up with some familiar sights and seeing how things have changed and/or not changed over the summer.
The Abbey Road street sign around the corner form where I work is even more plastered with stickers now. In fact, it's probably time for Westminster Council to come and relieve it of its burden. (Here's how it looked back in February.)
Remember Monak, the "pan-Asian sushi restaurant" in St. John's Wood that was closed by a firebombing back in April? Well, it's still closed, and not only that, the police and many neighbors want to revoke its license. Apparently there was also an earlier shooting there. No word on what might have motivated the firebombing.
As you can see, for now, the neighborhood is left with a boarded-up shopfront with furniture piled on the roof and enforcement notices plastered to the doors and windows. Yes, that phone box really is crooked.
Meanwhile, nearby Emminster House -- a council apartment block -- is being demolished. Hinstock House, which was next to Emminster, is already gone. The entire estate is under redevelopment, as I previously mentioned.
I did stop in once to ask the workers if I could have the sign for the Lillie Langtry pub, which was located on the downstairs corner of this building -- at the time it was still attached to the exterior wall. But I couldn't get an answer and I never went back, and now the sign is gone, so hopefully it has found a home. (What would I do with it anyway?)
Meanwhile, from nearby Priory Road -- this is what happens when you use plywood to build your garden fence and it becomes un-plied. Just so you know.
Lovely photos and a timely warning for our future fence building.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why people would put stickers on the Abbey Road sign.
ReplyDeleteIt was triads wot done it, the firebombing. The building behind looks standard London and nice. The former restaurant does not. Demolish it.
Plywood is great until it gets wet. Always use the right materials. One builder describes our neighbours leaking garage roof as having been made from Weetabix.
ReplyDeleteDemolishing Emminster House is rather like knocking down The Great Pyramid at Giza - such is its architectural merit. I wonder what will fill that space in the course of time.
ReplyDeleteI kind of like the decoupage-y feel of the Abbey Road sign.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think I would avoid the firebombed, gun shot Asian spot.
you often refer to 'council' this and 'estate' that. London doesn't have developers that buy the land and then build the apartment buildings like over here or does the government own it all? what do you mean by 'council' and 'estate' anyway?
ReplyDeleteCouncil refers to public housing, and estates are usually developments. excuse me for butting in, couldn't resist.
ReplyDeleteI think the restaurant was involved in gang warfare. Probably better to let it go!
The un-plied plywood is interesting in its own way, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI can see why people would want to adorn the Abbey Road sign but with commercial stickers? Ugh. Well.
They should let it be.
Why are all of those windows bricked up above the Asian restaurant? No view? I think the blackened part should just come down as the building isn't bad.
ReplyDeleteI prefer your pretty pictures, Steve! :)
Uf, what a mess. The Abbey Road sign alone would make me nuts. What a shame about that beautiful building in St. John´s Wood. I do hate unplied wood.
ReplyDeletePlywood is very useful and great at many things, but left open to the weather is not one of those things!
ReplyDeleteWhen I look at that Abbey Road sign it makes me wonder what it looked like before anyone stuck it all up with stickers. What was life like before stickers?
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever seen the inner layers of plywood like this, a very good example of why we shouldn't use it for fencing.
I actually kind of like the unplywood of the fence - but that's definitely a hazard of some kind (I, for example, would probably trip & plant my face on the top of it).
ReplyDeleteHow long ago were those apartment blocks built? I wonder if they have to deal with asbestos when demolishing them? I know that can add a lot of expense.
ReplyDeleteHow did you get that angle on the un-plied plywood? I hope you didn't risk breaking a leg!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like gangland doings were going on at the sushi place. Some of my garden barriers of wood are delaminating too and I need to replace them, probably with bricks of some kind. TOO much work!
ReplyDeleteWhat happens to the people who lived in Emminster House? Is new housing found for them prior to demolition? Why are the buildings coming down, anyway. Seattle used to have Yesler Tower, which was low income housing. They booted everybody out, with no right of return, and built market rate housing. Yeah, all of the poor people can certainly afford that. Is that what's going on here?
ReplyDeleteun-plied plywood looks like art potential.
ReplyDeleteShame about the phone box and the Emminster House. All about the dough-ray- me...
re that phone box: It appears Dr. Who left in a hurry.
ReplyDeletePlywood for fencing needs to be "Marine ply" properly sealed against the weather.
ReplyDeleteI bet a lot of people will be happy to see the ugly council apartments block demolished but I do hope all tenants have been rehoused and not just kicked out. Will they build nicer looking council flats in its place?
Caro: Yes! Steer clear of plywood!
ReplyDeleteAndrew: The building "behind" is actually upstairs from the restaurant. The upper floors are just set back so it looks like it's another building.
Tasker: Weetabix! Ha!
YP: Ha! Some Brutalist buildings are significant, but this isn't one of them.
Bob: Yeah, you gotta wonder what's going on with that restaurant. I'm disappointed the local press hasn't pushed for more information on that case!
Ellen: There are plenty of private developers and privately-built apartment buildings. But there are also public "estates" which house primarily middle- and lower-income people. (More on that in my next post.)
Boud: Yeah, something nefarious is going on with that restaurant!
Ms Moon: The un-plied plywood DID catch my eye for a reason!
Ellen D: I have no idea why those upstairs windows are blocked up. Maybe it has something to do with how the interior space has been reconfigured.
Mitchell: I don't mind a few stickers, especially when they're clever and/or interesting, but that IS getting out of hand.
Ed: Yeah! I'm not sure who thought that would be a good fencing material! Perhaps they meant it to be a short-term fix and it's stayed longer than intended.
Robin: I'm sure it was a very conventional white British road sign. What's funny is, the others on that street are not as stickered-up. There's just something about this one that attracts them!
Bug: Ha! It's interesting in a weather-beaten way, but yeah, you wouldn't want to fall on it. (Though it would probably break pretty easily.)
Kelly: I'm guessing 1970-ish, but that is a VERY good question, about asbestos. They're certainly of that era.
Jonboi: Ha! No, the fence is very low. I didn't have to climb on anything. :)
Margaret: Anything involving brick requires an expert!
Allison: Sort of. I don't know specifically what happened with the people living in Emminster, but typically councils do find affordable housing for displaced tenants who need it. There have been controversial situations, though, where tenants have been moved long distances or otherwise disrupted by such changes. The new buildings will include affordable units, but a majority of them are market-rate.
Linda Sue: Definitely a financial motivation here!
Catalyst: Ha! It DOES look like that! He ran so fast he knocked it askew.
River: See my answer to Allison, above. The new apartments will be better looking, at least in the short term, but some of these modern buildings don't weather very well so ask again in ten years!
Pity about the Lily Langtry sign. That would have been fun. Good to know that if you are looking for Abbey Road, just look for a sign where the name of the street is covered by colorful stickers!
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how quickly things can change is cities like London...and Phoenix for that matter.
ReplyDelete