Friday, February 10, 2006

Adventures

I like buildings that are not complete. Half-built buildings are good, but they're even more fun when the decrepitude occurs at the other end of their lifespan.

Yes, that was a very longwinded way of saying I like ruins.

Although, in this case, it's not so much a ruin...

I was driving past my old primary school in York the other week, and it's being demolished. I had to stop the car and have a look, but it was all fenced off and I had Felix with me. But what I did glimpse gave me taste for adventure. I could see the old red-brick corridor. It's a very old-fashioned design - like an Elizabethan cloisters, with a quadrangle in the middle. I'm quite shocked that they're allowed to demolish it, but there you go.

They've already built its replacement. It looks modern, and impressive, and dull.

Anyway, what is currently there is structurally still my old school, but they've removed all the roof tiles. So if only I could get inside... I would find nostalgia AND that indefinable something that all good ruins have. God, I love ruins. They're exciting, and romantic, and atmospheric, and just... well... cool.

I also like adventures. The best kind are off-the-cuff madcap "Hell yeah, let's drive to Inverness with a rusty old van in a blizzard"-type adventures.

Can you guess where this is leading? There was a gap in the security fence. It would have been sooooooo easy to squeeze myself in. Even easier for Felix. I was tempted to do it there and then. But I didn't. But now I can't get the idea out of my head. This is my last chance to revisit a large chunk of my childhood. They're demolishing it!

I may be looking for partners in crime tomorrow. Watch out.

2 Comments:

Blogger Rob said...

So? We want updates.

1:56 AM  
Blogger Clare said...

Nothing to report so far. I did have what looked like The Perfect Plan. I tracked down a fellow ex-pupil, and we arranged to meet up on Sunday night. But then it chucked down all day, in York as well as Manchester. So we cancelled. I very nearly went on my own anyway. And then didn't.

It's looking more unlikely now, but there is a small chance I'll go up on my own this weekend.

8:23 AM  

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