The main reason for coming up to Northampton was to go to a friend’s house re-heating party (long story, don’t ask!)
I’d been out with him and other friends for most of the evening, and we went back to his around 10pm before finally heading back to the hotel just before 1.
I’m from Croydon. I’ve walked through Croydon at 1am, I’ve seen the town centre when the clubs are turning out.
However, nothing prepared me for quite how edgy Northampton is at 1am.
Police everywhere, broken glass over the streets, people standing in the middle or roads screaming at each other.
It really makes Croydon look like some small Cotswold village!
Showing posts with label Northampton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Northampton. Show all posts
Sunday, 20 March 2011
Save it, or let it slip away?
Two very different locations.
United by the most momentous events of the 20th Century.
Both incredibly important in the history of World War II, both decaying.
For a couple of years there has been a debate raging about what to do with some of the most important locations in World War II history.
In Poland it’s costing more and more each year to keep Auschwitz from decaying away, and a debate is raging that as to whether it should be allowed to rot away, or kept for future generations. The debate even made it into the British press in 2009
Cash crisis threat to Auschwitz
But it’s not just sites in the former occupied territories that are at danger of disappearing.
Here in the UK one of the most important locations, not only in the history of World War II, but also in the history of communication and computing, is slowly decaying.
Bletchley Park, nowadays on the edge of the Milton Keynes sprawl, was the home to the code breakers who helped the allies win the war.
It was from the unassuming small huts, many long since gone, and some of those that do remain in very poor repair, that people like Alan Turing cracked the Enigma code and enabled allied forces to read Hitler’s most private correspondence at the same time he was.
Today the site is a series of museums to the history of code breaking and computing. Much has been done to preserve parts of the site, and from where it was a couple of years ago when the “Saving Bletchley Park” campaign (Campaign Website) was set up large parts of the site are now back from the brink, but there are still parts of the site in danger of decaying to nothing.
Walking round Bletchley Park leaves you with an inspirational feeling for the work of the people who helped win the war from here.
Walking round Auschwitz is an incredibly moving and sobering experience. I’m not spiritual, but even I could feel something very odd in the atmosphere. I’m convinced that even if you didn’t know anything about the site or the Holocaust you couldn’t walk around the site without feeling that something very bad happened there.
And it’s perhaps for those very reasons that we need to keep these sites for future generations. It doesn’t matter how much you read about the places, no matter how many TV programmes you watch, nothing comes close to the feelings you get when you visit these places. Bletchley for all the right reasons, Auschwitz for all the wrong.
United by the most momentous events of the 20th Century.
Both incredibly important in the history of World War II, both decaying.
For a couple of years there has been a debate raging about what to do with some of the most important locations in World War II history.
In Poland it’s costing more and more each year to keep Auschwitz from decaying away, and a debate is raging that as to whether it should be allowed to rot away, or kept for future generations. The debate even made it into the British press in 2009
Cash crisis threat to Auschwitz
But it’s not just sites in the former occupied territories that are at danger of disappearing.
Here in the UK one of the most important locations, not only in the history of World War II, but also in the history of communication and computing, is slowly decaying.
Bletchley Park, nowadays on the edge of the Milton Keynes sprawl, was the home to the code breakers who helped the allies win the war.
It was from the unassuming small huts, many long since gone, and some of those that do remain in very poor repair, that people like Alan Turing cracked the Enigma code and enabled allied forces to read Hitler’s most private correspondence at the same time he was.
Today the site is a series of museums to the history of code breaking and computing. Much has been done to preserve parts of the site, and from where it was a couple of years ago when the “Saving Bletchley Park” campaign (Campaign Website) was set up large parts of the site are now back from the brink, but there are still parts of the site in danger of decaying to nothing.
Walking round Bletchley Park leaves you with an inspirational feeling for the work of the people who helped win the war from here.
Walking round Auschwitz is an incredibly moving and sobering experience. I’m not spiritual, but even I could feel something very odd in the atmosphere. I’m convinced that even if you didn’t know anything about the site or the Holocaust you couldn’t walk around the site without feeling that something very bad happened there.
And it’s perhaps for those very reasons that we need to keep these sites for future generations. It doesn’t matter how much you read about the places, no matter how many TV programmes you watch, nothing comes close to the feelings you get when you visit these places. Bletchley for all the right reasons, Auschwitz for all the wrong.
Saturday, 19 March 2011
Boozy Britain
Hmm, Northampton, it’s an interesting place.
In the 30 or so yards between the cinema, where I’d caught a late film, and the hotel I was amazed by the number of “surprises” that awaited me.
It was a positive obstacle course of what the papers might describe as “broken binge-drinking Britain”.
Firstly were the pools of previously digested alcohol and curry (x3)
Second were the three police vans screaming past towards the centre of town at full speed
Third was the couple “enjoying each other’s company” in the shop doorway opposite the hotel entrance.
The only thing that stopped it from being the full house was there was no sign of a lady screaming after a man “leave it xxxx, he’s not worth it!”.
Then again, that had probably happened immediately before I checked into the hotel.
In the 30 or so yards between the cinema, where I’d caught a late film, and the hotel I was amazed by the number of “surprises” that awaited me.
It was a positive obstacle course of what the papers might describe as “broken binge-drinking Britain”.
Firstly were the pools of previously digested alcohol and curry (x3)
Second were the three police vans screaming past towards the centre of town at full speed
Third was the couple “enjoying each other’s company” in the shop doorway opposite the hotel entrance.
The only thing that stopped it from being the full house was there was no sign of a lady screaming after a man “leave it xxxx, he’s not worth it!”.
Then again, that had probably happened immediately before I checked into the hotel.
Friday, 18 March 2011
It’s a novel way to check in
Perhaps I should be more concerned than I am.
It’s certainly a slightly unnerving welcome to a town
To be checked into your hotel by a police officer means either there’s nothing for the police to do, or they have a very active interest in the hotel.
On arrival at the hotel there were a number of people standing around outside being urged to go on their way, some of them a little worse the wear for drink.
Entering reception I found the bar area was closed off by a human shield made up of Police, Community Support Officers and private security contractors.
The Policeman who checked me in to my room explained there had been a small “melee” that they had just cleared and the hotel staff were just writing up witness statements.
That’s always slightly disturbing when police use euphemisms like “melee”. If they had just said drunken brawl in the bar I would have been pretty accepting, but melee makes it sound like youre trying to hide the true extent.
Though, to be fair the bar area looked in perfect order, no furniture even out of place, so perhaps they were using the word melee to mean a small brawl which they were able to intervene in before it fully kicked off.
However, that wouldn’t explain why the staff were filling out witness statements, why the police were checking me in and why there were security guards riding in the lifts!
Welcome to Northampton, we hope you enjoy the entertainment we’ve laid on for you!
It’s certainly a slightly unnerving welcome to a town
To be checked into your hotel by a police officer means either there’s nothing for the police to do, or they have a very active interest in the hotel.
On arrival at the hotel there were a number of people standing around outside being urged to go on their way, some of them a little worse the wear for drink.
Entering reception I found the bar area was closed off by a human shield made up of Police, Community Support Officers and private security contractors.
The Policeman who checked me in to my room explained there had been a small “melee” that they had just cleared and the hotel staff were just writing up witness statements.
That’s always slightly disturbing when police use euphemisms like “melee”. If they had just said drunken brawl in the bar I would have been pretty accepting, but melee makes it sound like youre trying to hide the true extent.
Though, to be fair the bar area looked in perfect order, no furniture even out of place, so perhaps they were using the word melee to mean a small brawl which they were able to intervene in before it fully kicked off.
However, that wouldn’t explain why the staff were filling out witness statements, why the police were checking me in and why there were security guards riding in the lifts!
Welcome to Northampton, we hope you enjoy the entertainment we’ve laid on for you!
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