I love talking to you two, Keith and Tommy, for we can soon get into the nitty-gritty and no mucking about, but by and large this post is soap-box time so yous'll have to bear with me. If you're squeamish, bored or think I'm weird, look away now.
Keith your memory is absolutely VIVID and everything you say brings the touch of common sense to things. Yes, that'll likely be it: a team to do the caretaking, but why not flog the house to the general public with a wee bit of a garden clipped off the school's grounds to raise funds for the educational pot? Why get rid of it altogether? Is it because it was a bit dodgy? (This is only
speculation to try to figure out why it was demolished).
Why I thought it might have been made of those pre-cast concrete sheets, perhaps made to look like rows of bricks, is because a lot of older caretakers' houses from the 50s and 60s over here look sort of semi-permanent, as if not built to last. Tommy, I didn't mean that the house
itself was asbestos, I meant
another semi-permanent material because the school was not made of a permanent material itself. See what I mean? After the war they built a lot of stuff which was emergency housing, as we know, and a few miles up the road from me now there is a small, old council estate made of pre-cast concrete which looks similar to Mr. B's. It has weathered-in quite well and the other year one went up for sale and caused surveyors and building society eejits who lend the money no end of worry, lol. Would it crumble after they let someone borrow against it? Would it heck! but you know how it is when
money is at stake (cryptic remark).
But either way all this is only speculation to try to figure out why everything round the road is in the centre of the bullseye of eejits who have nothing better to do than decide what building is next for oblivion round the road. "We'll pick on the Shore Road again it's an easy target" is what I reckon is going on and it makes me annoyed that they get away with it. I'm only interested in trying to figure out why it was torn down if it was a perfectly good building. What about the tram depot? it should have been a listed building! it was the road's own Victorian castle! And what a waste it was wrecking the damn thing! If that had have been in south Belfast they'd have turned it into an antique market or some silly daft centre for people to go and contemplate their navels and afterwards buy cups a coffee at a tenner a go!
What all my speculation is in aid of is this: who is it that wants there to be nothing left of the Shore Road of old and why are they getting away with decimating it? Maybe if someone somewhere (like us talking here now) is beginning to wonder and raise concerns they will stop doing it! I want someone to come on here form the authorities to explain to me why all this is happening! Come out of the woodwork if you dare (if there's any left) wherever you are and answer these concerns! Why did you get rid of half of the Victorian and Edwardian Shore Road so easily? Would it be because you
could without opposition? In the same vein as having us accept the Tip Head in the fifties and its never-ending acres of rubbish because of all the things you were going to do for the road, but failed to deliver your promises? Why did we have to get everyone else's rubbish? Was it because we were a soft target?
Now back to talking to Tommy and Keith. As per the logic of tearing everything down: by
someone else's logic, Depot Terrace should now be useless, yet it still stands like a fortress refusing to be besieged!! It's like a haunted castle out of a myth no-one dares go near for fear of a curse! Ha ha! How come it's the big survivor? What's all this about? What other road gets its heart and soul ripped out and nothing but empty gaps left? I reckon they can't "do" Depot Terrace quite so easily because we are onto them!
Someone, somewhere is furious and they know it! And that someone is me!Do you get my drift now or should I go on and on and on and on
Regards to Tommy and Keith, love you guys to bits.