A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Although it might be sleeting again this time next week, today is absloutely beautiful, and there is some real warmth in that strange yellow thing up in the sky.

On my twice weekly little sojourn into Accrington, I thought I'd wait with the shopping bags, whilst sitting enjoying the sunshine on Broadway. Sadly however, all the benches were full.

Old dears were queueing up for someone to depart before they could park their backsides down. I had no chance of a seat, so had to stand leaning against Home and Bargains, whilst waiting for my Mum to finish her shopping.

It was whilst sulkily stood there, that I worked out that there are now only a tenth of the seats on Broadway, compared to when they were round the raised flower beds, and non of the haemoroid inducing marble or stainless steel benches, now face the sunshine. So even if you are lucky enough to get one, you will have to rotate your round head like an owl, to feel the sunshine on your face.

So, the newly, and expensively, refurbished Broadway, is not a place to sit and enjoy the sunshine. Infact if some entrepreneur wants to start renting out deckchairs there this summer, they should make a bloomin' fortune.

Hyndburn Borough Council once again prove that throwing money at something, with very little awareness to design and ergonomics, does not necessarily mean it's going to be an improvement. Just as moving the market wasn't, but we'll save that for another day...

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

i said that to chav last week, we wanted to sit down whilst in accy but there was nowhere at all, same with the arndale, there's nowhere in there to sit now either, its pathetic

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Yeah, in the Arndale, all the benches around the old clock, and then the cafe, have now gone. I think there's just one bench in the whole place, near Thornton's. It's a shame for elderly people, who may need to sit down for a moment or two.

Welcome to Accrington.

We have free parking for your cars, but not your arses.:D

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

is there actually one near thorntons? i cant picture it, the arndale used to be a regular meeting place for many people, i know i used to meet tinks in there a lot, under the clock, when we where younger, stupid i tell ya just stupid

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Yes, it's probably a bit further in than Thornton's, more like between the two card shops.

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

i shall have to investigate that on thursday when i next go into accy :D

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Should have waited on the benches round by Church St Chippy and told you Mum to shout you when she finished. They were clear at lunchtime, not even a sign of the usual cider drinking druggies :D

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

when i where a lass :D there never used to be druggies or drinkers round there, we (me n the fairy) used to sit there with her kids sometimes, people watching

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

shall we start a petition?? shall we?? :D

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Because that would be sensible so it wont happen.
It all comes down to politics unfortunately. We vote in the nice person who knocks on our doors.
If fact I didn't because the only person who knocked on my door was a rather soggy Gayle Knight with Greg Pope. I must apologise Gayle for laughing at the sight of you two trying to hide from a very heavy down pour. I am sure you look back at it now and laugh yourself. I only wish I had my camera with me :D
Sorry of track there, back to voting in those who knock on our doors telling us how nice they are and what they will do for us. The problem with all this is that the people we elect no naff all about running a Council. They are just shop keepers, teachers, van drivers etc. In other words normal people. What do they know about running a town?
Exactly, nothing.
The people who should know how to run the place, the employed Council Officers appear to have little say in what happens. These people are employed to do a job on there merit, past experience and qualifications, just like any other job. They should be qualified to decide what we need to do to make the place better but they appear to be told what to do by the elected Councillors.

Maybe I don't see things as they really are. Could someone please enlighten me why we empower just about anyone to make the decisions that affect our lives day in day out?

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Suppose it is all to do with being a good business move. People who wish to idle their time away on the benches in the town centre in 'the sun' (Garinda .. will the sun not shine more on this area as the sun gets higher in the sky ?) are not the biggest spenders, and will not be encouraged. It is the people who have the money i.e. workers who have limited time to spend shopping that don't need to sit for lengths of time... so not economically viable to outlay money/space on benches. The idea of a shopping centre is to get people moving into the shops to spend, not a trip to town to buy a pound of tripe and watch the world go by for the next hour or so... that was the idea behind parks. How many benches are there in the Trafford Centre ? (apart from the eating area) ..hardly any.

The only time I would ever sit when shopping is to have me fag as don't feel ladylike walking around with one in my hand .. but have to move on quick as time is precious, and probably spend more in two hours than sitters in a month.

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

maybe we could all sponsor a bench for uncle rindy and place it in the middle of broadway :D

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

I'm the opposite of Katex. If there were benches I'd be likely to stay longer and consequently likely to visit more shops after having rested my weary bones and recuperated myself for the next onslaught. as it is, when I start flagging I just think "Oh forget it!" and head for the bus.

A revitalised Willow, after a short sit down on a bench, could end up wandering the shops and spending more which would be good for businesses but bad for Busman's wallet. http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/i...milies/eek.gif

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Actually laughed about it at the time. :D

The theory should be that the people who run businesses, schools, homes are the ideal people to run councils - their concerns are the same as the rest of the people. Plus they have the business experience which should qualify them.

There should be training.

The problem is that everyone thinks of themselves and so votes for the person who can specifically help them, they don't actually think who is the person who is the best person for the job. For instance, and I'm not getting at you Neil because we've talked about this, you voted for the leader of the council because you believed that the leader of the council is the right person to have as your ward councillor because he could do the best for you.

Did you actually ask his credentials, or mine? I'm not sure I would have made a better councillor and now we'll never know but when I was canvassing nobody actually asked me whether I was suited to the job but a lot asked me if I could sort out the parking space in front of their house or the problem with the pub next door - very specific problems.

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

There are some benches to sit on in the Arndale centre.......One just outside H.Samuels.......and one outside Superdrug.......you won't get much sun on your back though....and you might even get rained on if the weather becomes inclement, as they STILL have not sorted the leaky roof on the Arndale!

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Oh, and while we are on the subject of Broadway.....has anyone noticed how the last bit of that terracotta stuff that they put on the floor has worn away in places? What a disgraceful waste of money the refurbishment has been.

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

In answer to Willow, the benches are basically sited east/west. If they, the few actual benches that are there, were facing south, then people could enjoy the sun all day wherever the sun was shining from.

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

As for people dawdling in town, I remember our elected burghers (did I spell that correctly, or is it a silly pun on buggers?) trying to encourage us to idle away our time in pavement cafes, infront of the Town Hall.

What happened to that idea?

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Not disageeing at all Willow with your type of shopper, you are an 'inbetweeny' ...:D , however, most of the sitters are mainly pensioners (ok, know I'm one ... and more of us now :) ), teenagers, non-working mothers .. all people with time on their hands, who have come to town for their bits and bats and just wish to enjoy a social time-out in the main. Instead of a petition, would be good to do a survey and ask people sat down on the benches/people rushing around why they are there, how much they have spent, etc., (sure has been done already) ... could prove any points as to the viability, or not, of petitioning HBC to provide more sitting accommodation.

Not critical at all of anyone wishing to carry out this pastime .. just thinking of our Council Tax money, etc., and a theory as to why not many benches in 'most' town centres.

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

That is the problem with how the system works. I think the elected people have too much power/influence on what happens.

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

When I think of Broadway, I remember the walls and the flowerbeds. I also remember the benches and all the 'oldies' sitting in a row spending some time together in the sunshine. In fact, my brother's late mum in law used to catch the bus there from Ossy for a bit of company.

I haven't been there for about eighteen months but I thought it was dreary and dismal.

My vote is for Rindy and his bench in the sun x

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Probably some genius from HBC will read this thread and have the divine inspiration that it would be a great idea to create in the town center a sunken garden (sun-trap) with flower beds and benchs where folks can take five minutes rest ...............opps , sorry , there used to be such a thing , but it was done away with in the name of progress.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Well i managed to sit down in the sun on broadway outside music choice this afternoon - quite nice:D

I suppose i was lucky - i even had a polished bench to myself:D

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Please pm me the name of your deodorant.

I want a bench to myself next week.:D

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Who said there were no advantages to not showering :D

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Well shows that impulse doesn't do what it claims then:D

It must of been the rare beeming smile i wore yesterday must of worried a few folk pmsl:D

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

True :D shall keep with baths then:rolleyes: :D

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Mind you its another lovely warm day today - sun always shines on the righteous :D

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Try the Canadian solution: pull up a hibernating Grizzly and park it. Shortage of places to park one's ass is common in the homogenized world we live in. As the poet said: " What is this life if, full of care,/I have no time to park it on a bear"?

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

I like reading about Accy, particularly the old stuff. What people seem to be expressing is dissatisfaction with "progress" - like the changes on Broadway - shoved down our throats. Reading about how it used to be - and I firmly believe it was better - is like having a plate of my gran's steak and kidney pudding in a Big Mac world. Ubi Sunt!

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

That explains it Mel, next time try wearing some clothes with your smile.


As far as broadway goes

I think it was very dated as it was, it was like walking through a red brick works. It needed modernising. I don't particularly like it now, it is too empty and definitely needs more seating. I suspect the lack of seating is by design to try and stop groups of kids/drunks handing around.

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Well I prefered sitting in the brick works, than standing in the grit and cement works.:(

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

[QUOTE=Neil;404398 I don't particularly like it now, it is too empty and definitely needs more seating. I suspect the lack of seating is by design to try and stop groups of kids/drunks handing around.[/QUOTE]

Exactly Neil, remember all the people that used to loiter on the planters and loitering is seen as 'anti-social' behaviour. Would suspect that the shop owners pressed the case for no benches to discourage the hoody brigade.

Also the possibility that benches are extra clutter on the street which might not have fitted with the original designers 'vision'. Another point could be that benches could prove difficult for near-sighted/blind people to negotiate and the new Disability Discrimination Act might be relevant here, but all these are just my assumptions.

Agree, is a shame that there aren't more, and when I can eventually afford to retire, would be lovely to loiter on the benches talking to other pensioners and whittle my time away watching the world go by .. in the sun one hopes ...:D

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

The answer is not to remove the benches, but to get the hoodies into bloody work, and then install more benches for the elderly people, who more than likely have worked their arses off all their lives, and now have nowhere to rest their weary bones whilst shopping in Accrington.

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Slightly off topic, sorry, but I just came across this.

Winston Churchill gave a speech to 10,000 people on Broadway in 1945.

http://www.accringtonobserver.co.uk/...s_welcome.html


I suspect no matter how many benches were there then, it would be standing room only.:D

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

I'm a little confused ... what are hoodies? Have I missed something? I realize from the discussions that they are not exactly pleasant, whatever they are; and though I have missed something, I'm probably not missing anything.

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Don't forget that in 40 years the elderly will be these hoodies, many of which will never have worked.
Not a nice thought for the future is it?

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

'Hoodies' are young men who wear hooded sports tops, and are seen as an underclass, as many don't seem to work.

David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative party, recently, and famously said we should 'hug a hoodie', as opposed I suppose, to try and avoid them by crossing the road, for fear they are about to mug us.:D

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

there was no one sat on the benches today uncle rindy, so you could of had them all to yourself, you might of got a wet bum but hey ho ;)

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

The way they are designed you'd still get a wet arse four hours after it'd last rained.:(

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

i know, i was looking at them today and they had puddles on um

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

As long as the puddles are clear, and not yellow, it's usually safe to wipe the seat with a handkerchief, and sit down.;)

Re: A place in the sun...no chance!
 

Ah!!! Punks. Now I get it. Don't hug them, don't cross the road, walk softly and carry a baseball bat. In dull boring Kingston it's safe to walk anywhere.