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Living in cloud land

PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2005 9:00 pm
by Dexter St. Clair
When you think of areas like lauriston in glasgow (and many others) which were totally demolished, which could have been refurbed its a real shame.


Could someone who actually lived in a tenement in a single end, room and kitchen whatever with a shared outside toilet explain some of the realities about re housing a population before you get thrown out at the next election.

Yes tenements that could have been refurbished were demolished but others had reached the end of their habitable lives.

East Kilbride I understand was attractive because it offered the fable back and front door , ain garden and even a pub within sort of walking distance along with secondary schools, shops and other facilities such as a ballroom and bowling alley noticeably missing from say Easterhouse.

PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2005 10:48 pm
by Caltonboy
I lived in a single end, hence my madness, :)


seriously, it was difficult, but fortunately i was very young and left by the time i was 8, i still recall how cramped it was though.

8O

PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 7:30 am
by Vladimir
The problem with any new town is that they were designed with two circumstances in mind. 1. No rain 2. A total lack of anti-social behaviour.

The housing in EK or Cumbernauld was hugely popular at the time of construction because of all the benifits it offered. Look back to that picture of the tenement and imagine moving, the next day, to a house of flat in East Kilbride. The thing is that now people want even more, they want a bigger house (but not bigger garden?), in a little estate etc.

These underpasses were really intended as safe places to go as an alternative to being knocked down on the road. They didnt construct them to make our lives hell, they just didn't anticipate that in 2005 they would be swarming with neds 8O

PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 7:51 am
by HollowHorn
****

PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 9:59 am
by Vladimir
http://www.bestlaidschemes.com/moviezone/new-towns

New Towns, an early take on them, the music is really great :D

PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 10:17 am
by Alycidon
Have to disagree heare with Vladimir
"The modernist architecture inst all that bad. Its just percieved to be bad these days (due to fashion again"


Generally, my impression of East Kilbride is that it is the best (and most sought after) of the New Towns because the bulk of the housing was built along "traditional" lines. The later developments at Cumbernauld, Livingston and Glenrothes are horrible concrete jungles with houses built with tiny windows, front doors where the back doors should be etc. Obviously designed by architects whe were allowed to run riot with their imagination with little or no thought as to what the people who were to live in these houses would have wanted. I know as I moved from Eaglesham to Livingston in December and I am moving back to Eaglesham in July - Livingston is truly a horrible place to live!!!

Just as an example
The market value for a 4 bedroom mid terrace with dining room, bathroom and separate WC in Livingston designed to "modernist architecture" is around £80,000, a traditional 3 bedroom semi in EK will set you back around £120,000. I cannot see that trend changing so you cannot really put it down to "fashion"

PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 12:49 pm
by notty
Alycidon wrote:Excellent photograph!! Wot no dodgems!

Does anyone know where Mavor and Coulson's Foactory was in EK? Reason for asking is that there is an entry in the database of closed railway lines
"East Kilbride to Mavor & Coulson's Siding (Caledonian) 24-Jan-1966 "


There is an old railway going from the current East Kilbride station heading east. It's fairly easy to follow as most of it is now a pedestrian pathway. The line stops at Mavor Avenue next to the Rolls Royce plant. I guess that this is probably your best bet.

If my memory serves me right I think there were remains of platforms near the Mavor Avenue end in the late 70's early 80's. These would have been near the front of the gatehouse of the cemetry which is visible in Schiehallion's Whirlies picture.

PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 4:43 pm
by Guy Incognito
Schiehallion wrote:The Whirlies 50 years ago - when life was a bit quieter...

Image


Does anyone know if that is the Rolls-Royce factory in the backround? I work there btw, and it looks very familiar.

PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 5:02 pm
by Vladimir
Modernism has been flawed in a lot of places Alycidon, its not the style thats bad (theres no need for small windows), its a combination of bad planning, bad design and bad weather that has taken its toll on New Towns, and Cumbernauld especially. East Kilbride was a mixture in a way between the very traditional types of housing found at Welwyn Garden City and the more brutalist styles of Cumbernauld, this is probably a reason for its success.

new towns

PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 8:24 pm
by BB
hey don't complain about east kilbride, I was brought up in kabul's twin city, cumbernauld.
talk about pish towns, the town centre was to be developed just after my daughter was born, she's now 22 and the centre is still a midden.
For the biggest population center (and taxpayers) in north lanarkshire we have the poorest service. some Afgans laugh at the thought of cumbernauld.

Re: new towns

PostPosted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 1:35 pm
by Fat Cat
BB wrote:hey don't complain about east kilbride, I was brought up in kabul's twin city, cumbernauld.
talk about pish towns, the town centre was to be developed just after my daughter was born, she's now 22 and the centre is still a midden.
For the biggest population center (and taxpayers) in north lanarkshire we have the poorest service. some Afgans laugh at the thought of cumbernauld.


Have to agree. Cumbernauld is a rancid hole. The town centre is where evil goes to die. Truly horrible. For a town of it's size it is the pits. Baghdad in the rain is more appealling

PostPosted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 2:32 pm
by Alycidon
Heard a rumour that the old administration (Strathkelvin?) had a substantial pot of cash set aside to completely overhaul the town centre.
However when Cumbernauld was re-zoned to fall within the wonderful administration of North Lanarkshire District Council that cash suddenly disappeared - along with the massive DLO debt that NLC had accrued. Such is creative accountancy, and is why Cumbernauld town centre resembles Beruit.

PostPosted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 3:07 pm
by My Kitten
Alycidon wrote:Heard a rumour that the old administration (Strathkelvin?) had a substantial pot of cash set aside to completely overhaul the town centre.
However when Cumbernauld was re-zoned to fall within the wonderful administration of North Lanarkshire District Council that cash suddenly disappeared - along with the massive DLO debt that NLC had accrued. Such is creative accountancy, and is why Cumbernauld town centre resembles Beruit.


Cumbernauld is a hell hole, spent many a lovely year growing up there. It was indeed slightly better under both the Cumbernauld Development Corporation and Cumbernauld and Kilsyth District Council. Worst thing that could've happened to the town was being zoned in with Motherwell etc. Not only monetary wise but the town has noting to tie them in with these areas, the area has more links with Kirkie, Kilsyth etc.

30 years of cumbernauld spleen vented!

PostPosted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 6:03 pm
by Bonz
I've got to agree Vietnauld is pish. I bought a flat there when I worked up that neck of the woods. I only managed to tough it out for a year before I sold up and moved back to Blantyre (tho' that's no paradise itself!).

The town centre is truly the most depressing place i've ever visited in Scotland (that includes morgues).

In saying that, the difference in the town centre over the last few years has been huge, what with the Tesco, Domino's/Blockbusters, KFC, Burger King and Pizzahut opening up. The fast food places always seem to be dead though...... except MacDonalds, as far as i'm aware it's the busiest drivethrough in Scotland!!!

PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 12:20 am
by Apollo
Interesting...

While I wouldn't say it ranked amongst the top ten places I'd like to go, I used to work around Cumbernauld (industrial estates mainly) over ten years ago, and dropping into the town centre wasn't that bad (I'm not equating that with living there mind you). The last time I chanced through, most of what I knew had been demolished, corridors and walkways that had led to shops, just ended in dead space.

Got to say that list in the last post does only one thing for me, and that's to make sure I stay on the A80 until I'm well past, and avoid any temptation to head up a slip road, unless it leads to the airport.