London 2012 - Skybar and News

[brit1955]

Originally Posted by Shmunkey

With regards to the rail track sculpture, that has been there for years now.

That's exactly my point. They've been filling Stratford with crap for years and most of the newer additions are no better.

Originally Posted by Shmunkey

Everything is still in tact and nothing has been stolen by 'locals'.

If you were a more frequent visitor to Stratford Library you might have noticed the monument to Gerard Manley Hopkins, poet, born 28th July 1844 at 87 The Grove Stratford.

Last year:



Now:



I checked with the staff at the library and no, it ain't been sent to the cleaners. So new or old, even if it is screwed down, they'll have it away.

Originally Posted by Shmunkey

This 'put something nice in the east it'll be ruined' attitude has to stop...

I quite agree. Unfortunately you appear to be confusing 'new' with 'nice'. Just 'cos it's new don't necessarily make it nice though.

So how do you think Stratford bus station or "The Shoal" is going to look in 10 years time say, compared to the Old Town Hall, St John's Church or the Black Bull Pub?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not of of those people who think everything has to be over 100 years old to be of value. There are some new buildings of merit in Stratford. The Cube on the Grove is a good example as is the Stratford Eye on Angel Lane:



They are appropriate to their settings, display a certain amount of quality and care in their design and were, of course, built by private ventures. But if it's built by a public body such as Newham Council (or even worse, the Olympic Development Agency), then you can expect the worst and they never fail to disappoint.

Stratford's very own council offices have been relocated and rebuilt three times in the past 35 years, so if they can't plan for their own building requirements, what hope for the rest of us?

Originally Posted by Shmunkey

I saw a broken window over while wondering about Chelsea.

Was that some sort of vision? Personally I've never spent any time thinking about Chelsea. Unless you mean the football club of course, but even then, no visions of broken windows.

Originally Posted by Shmunkey

Stop being so damn British and moan about everything, if this hurts you so much don't look at it. Live under a rock where everything stays the same.

Stop being so damned British and putting up with any old crap that's foisted on you.

I mean, if you're happy with poor or mediocre new buildings then Stratford is certainly the place for you. It's a pity you don't have the imagination to hope for something better for all of us in architectural terms.

If planners and local councils perpetually create shit holes then people will simply continue to treat them like one, that's all I'm saying.

[brit1955]

Originally Posted by jamiefearon

How do you know it was Human?

Because I know of no other animal on the planet that would have used a Kleenex tissue to wipe its arse with after the deed was done.

[brit1955]

Originally Posted by fiddlediddle

And some silly folk say "NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE OLYMPICS."

Some people care a lot.

There have been quite a few public meetings in the area against the Olympics such as the "Countering the Olympics" meeting held at Toynbee Hall in January.

What with groups like "Occupy" (who certainly won't miss the chance of some global publicity) and not forgetting July/August is the traditional rioting season of course, the games promise to be very interesting indeed.



By the way, if you are mug enough to turn out and gawp at the Olympic torch as it travels around the country, do pause to consider the following.

The so called 'tradition' of the Olympic torch being carried from Olympia in Greece to the host nation was originally conceived by the Nazis for the 1936 Games in Berlin to symbolise and support their claim that the Aryan 'Master Race' had its origins back in ancient history.

So when you applaud the torch as it passes, you will in fact be creating your own little link with, and tribute to, Adolf Hitler.

[metroranger]

Great posts Brit1955 - as another disillusioned Stratford resident (I don't know anyone going to the games) I'd like add to your post about the Town Hall which used to be covered in dozens of statues which were removed and are now lying in some reclamation yard somewhere and what about the fountains outside the Theatre Royal that were built not switched on for 5 years, run for 6 months but were too expensive and are now filled in. Same for the paving and lighting installation in the Grove, built 5 years ago , now all gone.

[DarJoLe]

The area would still be a so-called 'shithole' without the Olympics so I can't see what is to gain from being so negative about it.

Stratford has an absolutely fantastic future ahead of it, but nobody said it would be overnight or, with current economic times easy. But seeds have been sown for it to become a much better place to live work and visit than it was a mere few years ago.

[spindrift]

Resentful, angry and brutal, New York’s view of London.


London is a violent, angry, catastrophe of a place, dominated by “thuggish” buildings and intent on “eating its children”, according to The New York Times.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/91...of-London.html

[eddyk]

We get it, you think Stratford is shit.


More Olympics related posts please.

[Its AlL gUUd]

Here's some evidence of how other cities outside of London are benefitting from the Olympics.

[Shmunkey]

Originally Posted by brit1955

If you were a more frequent visitor to Stratford Library you might have noticed the monument to Gerard Manley Hopkins, poet, born 28th July 1844 at 87 The Grove Stratford...
...
I checked with the staff at the library and no, it ain't been sent to the cleaners. So new or old, even if it is screwed down, they'll have it away.

I live in Stratford. Is that frequent enough?
You've picked one thing that's been removed that has also been there for more than a few years now. These things happen, you talk as if the world is such a friendly place apart from the east.

Originally Posted by brit1955

Unfortunately you appear to be confusing 'new' with 'nice'. Just 'cos it's new don't necessarily make it nice though.

Whos opinion are we using here? Do you speak for everyone or just yourself? I think it's the latter, no?

Originally Posted by brit1955

So how do you think Stratford bus station or "The Shoal" is going to look in 10 years time say, compared to the Old Town Hall, St John's Church or the Black Bull Pub?

That Bus station has been there for 10 years already. It's made out of bloody fabric general ware and tear. From what I got from the station I saw it to be in good condition considered how many people use it a day

Originally Posted by brit1955

I mean, if you're happy with poor or mediocre new buildings then Stratford is certainly the place for you. It's a pity you don't have the imagination to hope for something better for all of us in architectural terms.

ugh, grow up. Get off your 'high horse'. Who are you to comment on my taste. I appreciate art, I appreciate beautiful architecture. But I live on planet Earth where I know that sometimes you have to put up with the mediocre... For Stratford, and from where it's come from what's being built IS nice.
You must hate 75% of London because as far as I can tell... it's quite a shit hole when compared to Rome or Paris. amirite?!
Just because I'm optimistic about the town I've lived in all my life doesn’t mean I have bad taste, old man. It just means that I'm glad that I live in a country where things get built for the public. Because my other half of my nationality, Sri Lanka, would LOVE to see some of these flats being built over there.

Originally Posted by brit1955

that's all I'm saying.

I don't care. Just wash that sand out from your vagina. That's all I'm saying.

[brit1955]

Originally Posted by Shmunkey

It just means that I'm glad that I live in a country where things get built for the public. Because my other half of my nationality, Sri Lanka, would LOVE to see some of these flats being built over there.

OK. OK. Calm down. So Stratford is nicer than Sri Lanka. I don't doubt it.

I just think it's disappointing that for £9 billion (although the original bid was £2.9 billion remember) the local community didn't get more benefit from it and that the standard of architecture is so mediocre and uninspiring.

The Olympic Park is literally cordoned off from the surrounding area and likely to remain so physically, socially and economically for ever more.

Just take two small examples of misguided planning.

• No one has any idea what's going to happen to the Olympic Stadium after the games.

• The only places you can get to by rail from Stratford 'International' Station are:
  • St Pancras Station
  • Faversham
  • Margate (via Ashford International and Canterbury West)
  • Dover Priory (via Ashford International)

Both the Olympics and transport strategy demonstrates a lack of planning on an almost criminal scale and that big business (with the great majority of ordinary people getting shat upon as usual) will be the only winner.

By the way, they've already announced the Chairman of the ODA is getting a knighthood - and that's before the project is even completed.

The Mayor of Newham is already a 'Sir' for services to...um...ah...something or other...so the only remaining option for him appears to be a sainthood.



On the plus side, the memorial plaque to Gerard Manley Hopkins outside Stratford Library has just been replaced.

[brit1955]

MORE OLYMPIC NEWS:

Eight people have been charged over an alleged £2.3 million fraud against the Olympic Delivery Authority.

All eight are accused of money laundering and will appear at Southwark Crown Court on March 5.

The charges follow an investigation by officers from the Met’s Operation Podium, the force’s dedicated response to serious and organised crime around the Olympic and Paralympic Games

The eight people charged are:

Shamsideen Owo, aged 75, of Brookfield Road, Homerton, east London

Abayomi Olowo, aged 48, of Windsor Road, Harrow, north-west London.

Ayodele Odukoya, aged 42, of Paignton Close, Romford, Essex.

Mabinty Kargbo, aged 26, of Crofton Road, Camberwell, south-east London.

Nadeem Khan, aged 38, of Richmond Crescent, Slough, Berkshire.

Sanjeev Kumar, aged 30, of Bell Street, Bilston, West Midlands.

Shakeela Ayub, aged 28, of Brudenell Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire.

Sakiru Adewale, aged 57, of no fixed address.

http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news...raud_1_1226923

[metroranger]

Well said again brit1955, the stratford international fiasco is not highlighted enough.
Stratford international should have been served by an extended Jubilee line not the DLR (they run parallel to each other all it would have taken was some new points) to give good reason for international trains to stop in Stratford.
Up to 40% of some of the new housing developments in Stratford is being sold to Chineese investors as buy to lets.
The crossing between the bus station and the old shopping centre is a massive accident waiting to happen.

[brit1955]

Originally Posted by metroranger

The crossing between the bus station and the old shopping centre is a massive accident waiting to happen.

Especially with pedestrians and drivers alike all gawping at The Shoal as they pass...

I think the fountains outside the Theatre Royal were got rid of for health and safety reasons.

Either because people were pissing in them or the council was afraid it might get sued if someone accidentally got their sandals wet in passing...

Mind you, I think the side extensions to the Theatre Royal are an excellent example of sympathetic planning and construction in that you don't really notice they are there at all.

They should also have expanded and widened the old subway tunnel that ran from the old underground entrance to Stratford Centre.

A big wide, modern. well lit one though. Not the usual mugger's paradise type of old.

[pagey17]

Originally Posted by brit1955

MORE OLYMPIC NEWS:

Eight people have been charged over an alleged £2.3 million fraud against the Olympic Delivery Authority.

All eight are accused of money laundering and will appear at Southwark Crown Court on March 5.

The charges follow an investigation by officers from the Met’s Operation Podium, the force’s dedicated response to serious and organised crime around the Olympic and Paralympic Games

The eight people charged are:

Shamsideen Owo, aged 75, of Brookfield Road, Homerton, east London

Abayomi Olowo, aged 48, of Windsor Road, Harrow, north-west London.

Ayodele Odukoya, aged 42, of Paignton Close, Romford, Essex.

Mabinty Kargbo, aged 26, of Crofton Road, Camberwell, south-east London.

Nadeem Khan, aged 38, of Richmond Crescent, Slough, Berkshire.

Sanjeev Kumar, aged 30, of Bell Street, Bilston, West Midlands.

Shakeela Ayub, aged 28, of Brudenell Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire.

Sakiru Adewale, aged 57, of no fixed address.

http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news...raud_1_1226923

All English names i see.....

[jdjones]

Jesus this skybar has become a depressing joke of late, it's like a room full of David Starkeys. I'm all for honesty and a little pessimism to keep things in perspective, but everyone is being so negative about everything, can't we have a little balance? There's only so much 'this is shit, that is shit, you are shit' I can take. It seems all the core members of this forum have left, those who updated us all with news about the projects and have been replaced by the typical British psyche of self deprecation and blaming others for our mistakes. It really is a shame, this being the Olympic year which should be exciting and all we are getting from here and in the press is the typical crap stories.

[DarJoLe]

Indeed. If you have so much passion about these things why not channel it into making a difference. After all, nothing will change unless you stand up and be counted, instead of posting rants from the armchair.

[potto]

Originally Posted by spindrift

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/91...of-London.html

the article by China Mieville, a British science fiction author.

[jdjones]

Originally Posted by DarJoLe

Indeed. If you have so much passion about these things why not channel it into making a difference. After all, nothing will change unless you stand up and be counted, instead of posting rants from the armchair.

I have done my fair share and still contribute news to this forum, my gripe is the amount of negativity on this forum which has made me think and rethink why I bother (I understand the irony of my negativity). I have no idea why you are having a go at me, I have always found your posts constructive and I respect you, and to my knowledge we have never had a problem with each other.

And how exactly do you suggest I make a difference other than making a rant? Can you tell me the difference between a rant and an internet debate? Forum debates are by definition a series of personal rants. Shall I stand up and be counted by banging my head up against a brick wall?

[DarJoLe]

I wasn't having a go at you jdjones, the people who live in Stratford and complain about the Games and the area are the ones who should do something about it instead of complaining on the Internet.

[jdjones]

Ah, I see, another problem with internet forums, misunderstanding what people say! When you used 'you' I assumed you meant me not people in general. Oh dear, *CRINGE ALERT* I'm now going to sit in a darkened room, listen to the Mamas and the Papas and try to forget this ever happened.....