The construction of Coode House on Bridge Street here in the Northern Powerhouse of Sheffield, the largest city in the UK in terms of dynamism. Coode House is a building consisting of apartments and shops. The column of bricks I've failed to edit from the left hand side of the picture belong to the right hand elevation of the Mayfair Court flats. In the basement of Mayfair Court is 7 Spices Balti which when it first opened was part owned by former West Indies cricketer Alvin Kalicharran.
The row of buildings in the image below is now slightly shorter, the more modern brick building on the right having been demolished. Obviously linoleum and carpets are old hat and the contemporary rage for house based footfall is now satisfied by interlocking pieces of fake wood. The three premises on the left have been through any number of business incarnations since 2004, who knows what they contain now. Google Street View only shows one of them open for business when their vehicle went past. The West Bar Take Away had morphed into Giordana Pizza by October 2014, exactly 10 years after the image below was taken. Giordana Pizza now may bear no relation to the business it was back in October, in the manner that takeaway pizzas bear no relation to actual pizzas.
The Queen's Hotel. Frequented by the flamboyant, and used as a residence by many theatrical types while on a sojourn in the locale to perform at one of the many thesping locations available in such a vibrant city. This fine edifice was also frequented by non-flamboyant, non-theatrical types. Once noted for the liberal licensing laws observed within, now sadly closed and deteriorating, what a grand building it had been at one time. The proprietor was known to have an enormous water bed - in no way can that be mistaken for a euphemism, and it isn't, it's a statement of fact about a bed - and would tell anyone and everyone about it. Noted for its selection of Wards Fine Malt Al _s, this delicacy is no longer served in the city due to Al _s now being protected and thus in short supply to the trade.
Another short row of shops. This one featuring the outlet of Arthur Turner, where you'd get your shooter from if the supermarket was fresh out of cucumbers. Arthur Turner had moved to Infirmary Road, a secondary thoroughfare out of the thriving metropolis, but now trades from a house in S35, which seems like a bit of a come down. I've never needed any shooting supplies so I suppose I'm partially responsible for not keeping them in business (is that the correct use of logic?) This row of buildings, and the more modern, and taller brick building to the left, have been demolished. A shame as both the Turner building and the Donner Kebab House building next to it had some character. It's ok though as there is some architectural interest in the building that replaced it, some sort of big storage facility that adds new life to the area. No, hang on, it's a big featureless box of shit that in no way enhances the environment.
All of that is ok though as due to modern building lifespans being fortunate to make 20 years I'll get to see at least two new builds of crappy architecture on that site before I expire. Lucky me. Or perhaps double lucky as I haven't been past this area since I took the photograph, or maybe I have passed by and it was unrecognisable - there are days like that, "where is this? What's that? Where did that come from? That looks like a wank set of apartments, is this Leeds?" That's a reference to the homogeneity of city design due to the limited ambitions of developers and the sparse pallet available to architects given the low budgets provided, not a dig at Leeds the vaguely known small town just outside York.
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