Our city has been ruined in the name of 'progress'
WHEN I was a boy, we used to go down to Lincoln Market, where you could sit and eat mushy peas, fish and chips.
The market was a wonderful site where every space was utilised for selling everything from fresh vegetables to fresh fish, and so it went on.
Like all old Yellowbellies, we sigh with sadness at the decimation of our cultural city.
We have, laughingly, a university, which I believe was designed after a night on the tiles. We call it Tin Pot Alley.
It's disjointed, ugly and has destroyed the surrounding area in what was once an enjoyable part of town.
St Johns Hospital would have been an ideal site, but the yuppies told us that we knew nothing and, anyway, they wanted it in Lincoln to bring business.
Now we have the old iron bridge, which some want to protect and others want to demolish.
Alas, I fear it will go the way of everything else we Yellowbellies hold dear.
The market has all but gone. The marina is overcrowded. The proud Lincoln flag has been replaced by a banana republic flag.
And now we have the racecourse in the sights of people who have no idea of heritage. It is now encompassed under "progress".
Lincoln centre is just a mess and all but destroyed and so the bridge and the racecourse have very little chance of surviving, like Boultham Park baths.
Do readers remember that? And when it closed we had no public swimming pool in Lincoln?
HARRY CARTER Highfields, Nettleham.
So yet another beautiful historic building, the Conservative Club in Lincoln's Silver Street, is at risk (July 22).
Driving down Lindum Hill, it is a sight to behold.
I recently spent a day in the delightful town of Newark, which has succeeded in moving forward while retaining its beauty and character.
Wake up, Lincoln, before it is too late. We have already lost too much of our heritage.
It's very nice to save the bridge over the Brayford, but why wasn't the footbridge over the level crossing in the High Street saved, therefore preventing thousands of pedestrians every day having to wait in all weathers for trains to pass through?
MISS SHIRL BRADER Sage Court, Lincoln.
2 Comments
by Emma, Lincoln
Monday, August 02 2010, 8:23PM
“Sorry, Shirl Brader, but I am unable to take seriously any person describing Newark as 'delightful'.”
by Missouri Marten, Lincoln
Friday, July 30 2010, 10:46AM
“I get the feeling that Mr Carter is of a breed that thinks along the lines of "old is good, new is bad, regardless". Believe it or not, it is still possible to sit and have fish, chips and mushy peas in the market and it does still sell everything from fresh fruit and vegetables to fresh fish, and so it goes on.
He doesn't speak for "all old Yellowbellies", unless he's canvassed each and every one of them, which he clearly hasn't, because I know plenty who are in favour of the University and feel that it has reinvigorated a run down and neglected area of Lincoln and brought a financial and cultural boost to the area.
Does he really hold a rusty old bridge "dear", or does that just fit in nicely with the overall nostalgic hyperbole of his letter? How exactly is the marina overcrowded? Did he prefer it when it was a rundown area of abandoned, crumbling warehouses and commercial premises, where nobody went except during the water festival?
He talks disparagingly about the idea of REintroducing horse racing to Lincoln by "people who have no idea of heritage". As someone who rejoices in the past and rejects the present and future, I would expect him to welcome the proposal with open arms.
I too remember Boultham Baths. I remember them as run down, freezing cold and under utilised by the public. And when they closed, I remember still being able to swim at the City School, North Kesteven and Yarborough pools.
I'm not arguing that all which is new is good or that all which is old is bad. But the world moves on and if Lincoln doesn't move with it then it will decay and die. The art is in finding a balance between heritage and future viability.”