Wednesday 30 May 2018

THE PARTLY-BUILT PIAZZA, 1972


by Dave Roberts

It's That Man Again! The partly built Middlewich Piazza in 1972, and our old friend George Robinson (left) in his quest to try to be on every photo I ever took, observes the passing Middlewich scene after, no doubt, having just emerged from the nearby Vaults public house.
The massive Colditz-style retaining wall by the bus-stop is complete, but the steps and the bleak, uneven acres of dodgy-looking paving slabs (in sickly shades of white, pink and yellow) have yet to be put in place.
Interestingly, the War Memorial has already been placed in its new position and traffic flow over Hightown still runs from Lewin Street to Wheelock Street. 

If you look carefully to the right of that massive 'Colditz' wall there appear to be two policemen, obviously guarding this new gem of modern urban architecture from possible malefactors.
Well, maybe not, but at this distance in time people seem to have forgotten the outright hostility this unlovely and unloved development engendered. It was universally despised and loathed by one and all and, when it was replaced by the current 'Roman amphitheatre' in 2005 the whole town breathed a sigh of relief.

The Piazza and the town centre in the 1980s




First published on Facebook on 5th June 2011
Published on the Middlewich Diary 28th July 2011
Revised and republished 28th July 2017
and 30th May 2018





1 comment:

  1. When did Titles take over Vernon’s Butchers? I thought it was after the 1980s... I worked there in the late 80s, when it was Vernon’s.

    ReplyDelete

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