Friday, March 13, 2015

The demolition of Greyfriars bus station, Northampton



A few weekends ago this blog was preoccupied with the demolition of the New Walk Centre in Leicester,

This weekend there is another demolition to enjoy. The Greyfriars bus station in Northampton is to be blown up.

As my photograph shows, it is a powerful Brutalist, or at least brutal, structure. If you came across it as an industrial building you would be mightily impressed.

But it was a public building. And the minimum you ask of a public building is that it does not kill people.

The underpasses and passages that the public was meant to use were so unpleasant that many preferred to cross the bus lanes above instead. And at least two passengers lost their lives doing so.

For that reason, I am not sorry to see the old place go.

If you want to watch the fun on Sunday, the best bet seems to be the Northampton Chronicle & Echo live web cam.

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