Project Throxton

This is a long but hopefully not too boring post. The last few days I have concentrated my efforts on developing an area based roughly on Devizes wharf. All along the Kennet and Avon there are wharves and canal basins. In the old days these were literally the stopping off points to load and unload cargo. Long before the UK had a decent network of roads, it had a decent network of canals with intersection points between the different canals and river systems. The Kennet and Avon is a baby canal when compared to the Manchester Ship Canal, although it does eventually reach Bristol Docks. I will add that the UK canal system is nothing in comparison to the Dutch canals and I suspect that our early canal builders owed a large debt to the Dutch for their engineering skills. Most of these canals were built long before mechanisation being dug out by hand. As the roads improved and the railways were introduced many of the smaller canals fell into disuse and were neglected. Thanks to a lot of dedicated canal enthusiasts many have been restored so that they are now places for recreation. Perhaps in time their usage will be reconsidered as we need to reduce our carbon footprint. Horses pulling barges along a towpath next to the canal has been missing from our landscape for far too long.

I am assuming the wharf at Throxton has been renovated and that part of it has been naturalised. This is certainly true of the Kennet and Avon, where it is possible to hire cabins by the waterside.

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Now I am a bit stuck. Devizes has both a theatre and a cinema. The cinema is pure deco but is now sadly used as a bingo hall (weeps softly into hankie). The theatre though is quite unusual in as much it is not a pretty little Georgian number but an old canalside warehouse. I have seen several plays there and it works well as a theatre. Many of the loading doors have been bricked up. It is still possible to moor barges alongside. I plan to use this as my theatre lot with a rabbit hole rug. Please note as usual I am not happy with the brickwork. It is far too pale to see the lines of building clearly. It needs a bit of a rethink.

https://i.imgur.com/gxMIkcu.png

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Finally it is not uncommon for old industrial sites by the sides of rivers and canals to be redeveloped. This has been done using the old warehouses themselves. London's dockland is a classic example or Saltford Keys in Manchester another. Here I have opted for a different solution and put down a row of modern townhouses. These are based roughly on a house hubby and I viewed many years ago. The one we saw was by the side of the river Avon in Bristol. In the end hubby refused to consider moving there because he was quite worried about the flooding. As it turned out he was right (smug doesn't even cover it). I will say the house we saw was not as fancy as these. I will also add that I have added lots of fencing and decorative planting to soften the stark lines.

https://i.imgur.com/gzttOFE.png

https://i.imgur.com/DMdfmiZ.png

Well that's it for this post. I am going to take a couple of days away from building. Hubby says he no longer recognises me and, now my back is a little better, I must get up and moving more. Back to the cardio rehab programme.