In defence of Period Concrete

[FamilyWiggs]

Spent a weekend with fambly in the dirty south.

Went back to Hampton Court Palace for the first time probably since I was a teenager. The hammer beam roof in the Great Hall is just jaw-dropping. What a marvel.

Also had a walk along part of the North Downs way this morning - one of the clearest and most glorious mornings you could imagine.

Whilst everyone else was taken with the view, the posh wellies, the hamster dogs, etc. I stopped to look at the Reigate Hill bridge. A nice little piece of engineering that was renovated and re-opened this year in honour of the Diamond Jubilee. It's the oldest reinforced concrete bridge in the country, having been built in 1905 with a span of 97 feet.

Quite pretty and certainly a tick in the plus column for concrete.

1915:

A bit different in 2012:

 

[tobydog]

FW - as someone who spent the first 18 years of my life living on the North Downs, I know exactly what you mean. It can be a magical place on the right day, particularly in and around Reigate where I lived. Coincidently I will never forget October 15, 1987 when I recall looking up at the once unbroken tree line that tops the Downs, only to see what looked liked the worlds largest broken comb. Devastating at the time but you wouldn't know it had even happened when you look at the same area now. Nature just shrugs its shoulders and moves on.

The bridge in question was always a bit of an eyesore lost in the overhanging branches. It represented everything you would normally hate about old neglected concrete but now it's looking fantastic. What a great way of saying welcome to Reigate. That's also a nice drive into the town (unless it's snowing and then it's very scary).

I still visit the area regularly as my sister lives in Reigate and T junior is at Kingston University.

 

[robgil]

Broke3n comb?

 

[vicky whitworth]

And Axmouth/Seaton concrete bridge - the youngest scheduled ancient monument so I believe - 1877 or some such date. Vicky

 

[MdB]

And Axmouth/Seaton concrete bridge - the youngest scheduled ancient monument so I believe - 1877 or some such date. Vicky

I didn't know that and I've been over that bridge many times.

http://www.transportheritage.com/find-heritage-locations.html?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&sobi2Id=643

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Not all that young for a Scheduled Ancient Monument
http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1020781

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Name: Atomic bomb store on Thetford Heath
The atomic bomb store and servicing facility on Thetford Heath is one of the two central stores built in the mid-1950s to coincide with the deployment by the RAF of its first operational atomic bomb, codenamed `Blue Danube', and as such it is of particular interest. The site and its structures were purposely designed to handle this bomb, and this is reflected in the design and landscaping of the complex, as well as in the stores designed to hold the very large body of the bomb, and the small `hutches' to hold fissile cores. Many other original features survive, including security installations, and in its extensive physical remains and internal layout the site provides a good example of a first generation nuclear bomb store and evidence for the handling procedures. The monument also illustrates the poor serviceability of early nuclear weapons policy, which envisaged no more than six weapons being held on a single airfield, with any reloads being supplied from the central bomb stores.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Actually a lot of important stuff in concrete, isn't there? That lovely piece of balustrading at Portmeirion too.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

And you can add the Pantheon in Rome to the list.

It is still the largest unsupported concrete dome in the world, 2000 years after it was first built. The precision of the engineering and perfection of the sphere described inside the dome is breathtaking.

Even my kids were enthused by it this summer. Although not as enthused as they were by the ice creams outside!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Fabulous.

 

[tobydog]

Rob - maybe the broken comb was a bit of a strange analogy. Think of a long upside down comb with all its teeth. That's how the tree line looked before. Then do the same with a comb where 80% of the teeth are randomly missing. That's how it looked after. :? Let's move on