Saturday 1 January 2011

GOING, GOING, GONE!

We preserve our heritage, we're known for it, depend on it, it serves us well, provides an income, stabilises us and our place in it. We have ruins that are many hundreds of years old, piles of stones with perhaps a solitary window and arched portal standing in isolated fields, atop hills and hidden in deep valleys; all expensively protected and revered. Our Historic towns and cities make us proud as we stand where Beckett passed, where Kings stood, and waved or cursed. There are monuments to battles lost and won, blue plaques that honour poet and peasant-history, all history is here in this small Isle.

Where bombs fell, the awful new crept in. Ghastly concrete blocks gradually became the face of our towns-quick fixes that polluted and spread and grew like fungus. There were protests, genteel, as befits our National Character. Petitions were raised and signed, delivered and ignored by the faceless 'powers that be' who knew what was best for us...and anyway, we voted them into power.

There is another history though-it is personal-related to places less ancient, less revered. Places of memories.And one such, not old and certainly not young, but old enough to matter, that has gone for ever.

It was built in the thirties, I believe, as an Hotel, on a cliff overlooking the North Sea here in The Bay, on what was my idea of Nob Hill.  This end of town was-is, where all the large houses were built. Houses with large iron gates, driveways and large gardens. The owners had servants and Chauffeurs, their children went to Private Schools and the parents owned the town, the Doctors and Lawyers, and fathers who worked in London and commuted daily, riding up to town in first class carriages in their pin-striped suits and their faces hidden from view behind The Financial Times newspaper.

The Hotel, The Miramar, was grand and off limits for me. It held Dinner Dances every Saturday with live music of the 'Palm Court' style, played by musicians decked out in white tie and tails. The clientèle resplendent in evening dress and jewels.

I know because I was there for my twenty first birthday, the first time I had ever set foot in the place.
By now its glory was starting to fade; the gilding on the ormolu ceiling was chipped, the plush on the chairs rubbed bare in places  and the scarlet curtains showed dusty pink psoriasis like patches in the folds.
But for me, sitting in pride of place, looking like a plump grey mushroom in my birthday gift [a satin with tulle overlay monstrosity, bought for me by Mutti on one of her scavenger hunts into the underbelly of second-hands shops] I still felt marvellous. I had finally made it to Nob Hill. For me the lights twinkled and glittered and I reigned supreme that night. I was toasted and praised, was served first by the waiter, drank wine that went to my head in an instant, and danced, and danced as if I floated on air.

JP. took me there the following year, when I wore a strapless full-skirted dress of yellow, with tiny white polka dots. Momentous! We had met in the previous May and here it was August...Good lord! How could I have known we would still be together all these years later?

Then, as so often happens, the Miramar closed and was re-opened as a Nursing Home. But the building remained intact and, now that I live up here on what is no longer  Nob Hill, I pass it each and every day. It still remained standing when an American Company bought it, pulled down two houses that had merged into the Home and built a concrete- 'luxury' building, complete [they say] with restaurant and basement swimming pool. So luxurious is it, that no-one can afford to live there, it's residents coming from far and wide, but not from here.
Then, one day last year up went the barriers of metal and wire and the demolition began.



 GOING.......



GOING...


GOING...


GOING...


 GONE
It wasn't old, nor was it new, but it was special. Building has now begun on the second phase of 'luxury' flats for the wealthy elderly. Glass, and concrete squares and blocks. I hate it.

Thankfully it would take more than a bulldozer to erase my memories.

67 comments:

  1. I cry when I see yet another town centre disappear in the giant maws of the bulldozers and demolishers. Perfectly good buildings are torn down to make room for ugly, soulless one-size-fits-all developments.

    I am old-fashioned, I want to recognise where I am.

    Moannie, thank you for following me on my Poetry and Pictures site. This is a site just for self-indulgence and I don't react to any comments there. I would absolutely love it if you could come over to my main blog, Friko's Musings (or World occasionally) which is the one where it all happens and I reply to all and sundry. It is also the site where followers matter!

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  2. Such happy memories from your 21st.....bet you looked fabulous. I too hate it when buildings disappear only to be replaced by hideous concrete things that no one likes....but heyho...
    Happy new year!

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  3. Sacrilege! Someone must have driven coach and horses through planning to get that application passed! It was indeed a lovely building and such evocative memories for you. I love the sound of your polka dot dress. They were obviously very lucky polka dots!Happy New Year to you too.

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  4. "Nothing endures but change."

    From Lives of the Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius

    It's a shame. Too many places that used to be wondrous have been allowed to fall into disrepair, and become fodder for the "sweep-it-clean" crowd. It IS a good thing to have our memories.

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  5. So sorry. the Americanization of the world. I hate it too.

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  6. I know I would feel your sadness and horror, too, Moanie. It was such a lovely building. And will anyone appreciate a glass and steel structure in a hundred years? I doubt it somehow. The only place we can safely keep these old places is in our memory (for as long as that lasts!!).

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  7. Oh my, I am so sorry. It was a beautiful 'monument'. So grateful you haven't let your memories be bulldozed.

    Have a Happy New Year Moannie!. Blessings to you.

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  8. I am sad too. It just breaks my heart when old landmarks are bulldozed. I'm glad you still have the memories.

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  9. Oh so sad, and by your story all the sadder. How fun to dress up and go the palace of your dreams. Your memory will help keep this special place alive for awhile. Once again, you have written a captivating story.

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  10. Dear Moannie,

    Your writing is beautiful, as are your memories. I love how buildings can transport us back into time. It feels so sad when we know we can never physically go back there again after a demolition. This is my favourite part: "the scarlet curtains showed dusty pink psoriasis like patches in the folds." It's a clear image and it also evokes age and frequent usage for many years.

    -Ashley

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  11. The bricks may come down, but never your memory of that precious coming of age party. I am sure you are not the only one to mourn it's loss, so sad, eh? What a thoughtfully, well written post, I must pop back more often!

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  12. Lets hope that what replaces it is not economic ugliness but at least some contemporary charm. So said to see buildings that were important in our lifetime disappear. The restaurant in Honolulu on the water where my husband proposed was removed a few years ago...so sad as it had been there since the War.

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  13. I think it's a more complex subject than all that; for every brutalist 50s school or car park there is a Barbican, for every identikit glass office block there is a Gherkin. If nobody ever built new buildings we would be stuck in a timewarp.

    Memories are the really important things, and thanks to writing like this they will never entirely vanish. I always find it funny when people campaign e.g. to save the house where Dickens wrote one of his novels. I tend to think they are focussing on the wrong things, they should be going out there trying to get more people today to read his books rather than just opening yet another museum most people will never visit.

    And I can't agree with Ellen - not everything is about "Americanisation", this is just modernism. America doesn't have the patent on that, it merely believes it does.

    This is a beautiful and thought provoking piece. Hope you don't mind my response.

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  14. Was brought to your blog by Mr London Street and I have to say, I'm not disappointed! What a lovely post, full of beautiful memories. We do attach memories to places and buildings and even people, but when they change or disappear, it's so sad- but if you close your eyes and remember, it's often far more colourful and special than the real thing itself!

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  15. What wonderful memories so beautifully told. Thank you.

    It makes me sad when I see the great old buildings taken down for "modern improvements". It happens all the time here in Los Angeles but where I grew up in Ohio-- They take great pride in having buildings and homes with 100+ year old Historical plaques that they wear as a badge of honor.

    Wishing you a happy and healthy 2011. Cheers, jj

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  16. Ugh. On behalf of my country, I apologize. I hate it when lovely old buildings are bulldozed. Absolutely despise it. Happily, I live in an area (Boston) that usually preserves the older places.

    (Not always, of course, and there are a number of places I wish were still around, but were, instead, torn down and garish monstrosities built in their places.)

    (By the way, I've placed this blog back on my sidebar and removed the other. Hope that's your preference! Happy New Year!)

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  17. What a lovely lovely post, blog and, if I dare say it, woman you are.

    So pleased I stumbled upon you and I will be back to spend another few minutes with you.

    - B x

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  18. First off, congratulations on the Blog of Note status!
    I too have a hard time watching new developments taking over old and cherished sights but sadly that is the way of things. Memories are a blessed thing but so often a double-edged sword in that regard.

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  19. Congratulations on blog of note- hurrah! Very well deserved. And thank you for the follow and lovely comment on my blog. :-)

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  20. Your words were so beautiful. Happened upon your blog when looking for something to pass the time at work and will put it on my favorites.
    I love old buildings and the memories they hide in their walls. I too wish that they could always be preserved. Looking forward to reading more!

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  21. This is sad, I can relate to it, as an office of some one I dearly love was bought and demolished by an architect who built and rented a coffee place to Starbucks. The ofice was cute and quanit adding charm to the town.

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  22. It's always sad to see old buildings go for progress. I enjoyed reading your post. Congrats for being a blog of note.

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  23. Moannie....I am new to your blog and enjoyed it very much. I lived in England for five years and it was a fabulous time for me.

    It is sad to see all the "old" places go but it is great that our memories never become old.

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  24. Nice house, i found that one website offering free puzzle games. Just take you one minute to sign up then you will receive a free puzzle game. I've done it and now i am enjoying it. Would you like one? Enter the below URL : http://www.684899.com/en/CosmicCreature/project_1.htm

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  25. Moannie --- just found your blog from 'Blogs of Note', and have to say I love your writing.

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  26. Oh Moannie, I hate this type of "modernization" too. It would be so lovely to preserve the existing buildings rather than replace them. It's heartbreaking. I'm so glad you have your wonderful memories.. and happier still that you've shared them.

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  27. Really nicely written. I live not far from you actually, Bognor Regis in West Sussex, a town which has suffered a similar fate. Congratulations on getting on Blogs of Note, W

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  28. We must protect our ancient buildings of genuine character at all costs !

    Good post.

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  29. Your blog is lovely! I'm Spanish and I have a blog in English, sometimes I just love writing.
    http://inthedimlight.blogspot.com/

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  30. Hi Moannie

    I was sent your way by Mr London Street (a close personal friend) and now I see you have got Blog Of Note. Congratulations.

    Love this piece. I live on a street which is half beautiful - listed Georgian townhouses with the occasional even older house - and half ugly - those 60s and 70s monstrosities, all hard edges and new bricks so I sympathise completely.

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  31. wow this is great,and am even in love with this blog.I hope mine will grow up to that some day
    http://juicygossyp.blogspot.com/

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  32. Memories are great! Thank God that He built us that way!

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  33. So I've discovered someone else who's still married after all these years, and appreciates HISTORY and the sights, sounds and smells of it.

    I've never been to your country, but I appreciate your view of it. Immensely. God Speed.

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  34. Moannie - I quite agree with MLS. Yet, I still get your sentiment. There are buildings gone for which I long...

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  35. Very nice! Take a look at mine!
    http://www.frisontech.com.br
    www.frisontech.com.br

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  36. awww this is kind of a sad post =(
    congrats on being a blog of note!
    you can follow my blog "Moulin Rouge Musings" at

    http://jenniferscavone.blogspot.com/

    Ciao!

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  37. This is such a pretty piece about how the mind helps preserve things that may not always be there.

    Congratulations on Blog of Note!

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  38. Isn't it strange to watch places from your past change or get destroyed? My favorite little restaurant just closed down, much to my sadness. I do like, however, how the destruction of the physical manifestation of a memory can release the memories in your mind in such a vivid way...no longer geographically locked. :)

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  39. Wow, what a wonderful descriptive blog you write and about a wonderful and memorable old building! It is a shame. On this end we don't seem to be able to build a bridge that can last fifty years, let alone a grand old building like that. Thank you for the tour!

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  40. What a beautiful story, and beautiful building. So sad

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  41. Thank you for posting!

    I really like your blog!!

    Steve
    Common Cents
    http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com

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  42. Love your wee blog. Congratulations on your Blogs of Note!

    Isn't it very sad when a piece of the past is ripped out from the community?

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  43. What a wonderful pick for blogs of note, your writing is beautiful.

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  44. What a lovely written blog! So true, everything beautiful disappear, the same in my hometown Jönköping.
    I also like the photoes you taken to illustrate your story.
    I am a swedish woman, find you when I searched Google...
    Have a fantastic day
    Birgitta

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  45. Helping you to achieve 236.

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  46. Came across your blog page through "Blogs of Note." Congratulations! I love your writing.

    http://brownbugz.blogspot.com

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  47. You writing is not only beautiful, but also inspiring. Thanks for sharing this story charming, albeit wistful story. Looking forward to following you in the new year :)

    http://texagermanadian.blogspot.com/

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  48. This is so heartbreaking. I often find myself torn between the excitement for what is to come and the yearning for yesteryear. When these monuments of our past remain present in our lives they serve as artifacts or even evidence of sentiments held so deeply they might otherwise be mistaken for beautiful dreams!

    Thank you for your post. I have never been to this hotel or nursing home, but your pictures and your story showed me just a bit of your beautiful dream. You have now created our new artifact to reflect upon as we search for the evidence of beautiful times in that place.

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  49. I have so little time on PACO [my PC]that I cannot personally thank each of you for the time taken and the comments left on this my resurrected Blog...saved from the infinite space of wasteland by some super tech. at Google.
    Nor, I'm ashamed to say, had I heard of 'Blogs of Note'. So that to be mentioned, and consequently to be visited by so many new friends is wonderful.

    I shall try to visit every new Blog to say thanks, and to all my old friends, thank you so much for sticking around.

    Now the pressure is on, huh?

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  50. That is very sad.
    Too many building like those, have been sacrificed for some concrete monstrosity that in years to come will be thought of ash hideous monstrosities.
    Maggie X

    Nuts in May

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  51. Oh, that makes me so sad. Thank you for sharing your memories - I'm glad the bulldozer can't touch those.

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  52. In the US, we call it globalization, and we don't like it either. Thank you for a charming word picture of another place and time.

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  53. I hate to see buildings with character get leveled to create the cookie cutter buildings the put up now. I live in Texas in the US and it happens here as well. I remember the grand times I had at the Shamrock Hotel in Houston. It was also one of those grand hotels that brought the rich and famous from around the world. Now it is a parking lot for the medical center.
    I had my first drink at the bar there when I turned 18. My friends took me there for my birthday.
    Your right they may get rid of the building, but the memories last a lifetime.

    Oh and congratulations on the blog of note award.

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  54. So sad. I am glad you posted this and commemorated it. Congratulations on blog of note.

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  55. We have had over a thousand earthquakes here in Christchurch NZ since the 4th Sept 2010. There is a furore over what is going to replace our heritage buildings, many of which have been damaged beyond repair. The city is becoming divided over what is going to happen with some wanting the old (unsafe) buildings repaired and others wanting them pulled down. Many old schools have been hit as well. It's a tricky one because Christchurch is so new (colonised in 1850) so we really need to hold on to our 'old' buildings, to give us some sort of history. I hate to see them getting knocked down, but with the city looking like a war zone, and with the quakes continuing, the tourists are staying away. Time will tell what will happen, but it was great to read your blog and see the photos, which reminds me that memories are for ever no matter what happens. Thanks.

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  56. Sad that had to happen to a place so connected to you. There are several structures that I miss, and prefer them to be destroyed rather than see them as eyesores (using a broad label for eyesore).

    Thanks for your recent comment over at my place Moannie.

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  57. Congrats on being a blog of note. Your post is so sad and being an American, I feel sad too! We have my husband's business in an old building that's on the historic register...we can't even pound a nail without permission, yet an American co. can knock down a beautiful old building across the pond? Sorry about that.

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  58. Memories often weave a complicated maze, they are part of what makes us into the person we become. They help us love deeper and cry easier. But as you said so well, it would take more than a buldozer to erase our memories. Good Post.

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  59. First of all i want to congratulate you on being in the BLOGS OF NOTE. and for writing such a beautiful post. keep up the good work.i will surely visit again and again
    greetings from http://picxy.blogspot.com/

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  60. Love your blog!!
    Sry to kno tat the town dissapeared!!
    Best wishes,
    Regards,
    Welcome to Cofeeinpot!!

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  61. Moannie, I hadn't realized on my last visit that you had been listed in Blogs of Note. I am SO happy for you! Your beautiful blog deserves the recognition. It's going to get mighty busy around here. Good for you. :) :)

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  62. I was searching some interesting blogs to write and your blog is really fantastic. I hope to write you in the future.

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  63. What a wonderful blog - congratulations on the Blogs of Note designation.

    We too are seeing the bulldozers at work here in my community in Canada. Family homes being replaced with huge mansions with huge garages. I cannot stand the sound of the crunching...or the site of all the perfectly usable stuff being carted away to the landfill. I'm looking forward to moving to a community where people still garden and chat over the fences.

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  64. My dad used to say that the only thing that can't be taken from him are his memories. They go with him.

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