Wednesday 19 March 2008

Brentford rising - a walk around the "new dockland" #1 - # 08/50

Here is the environment enjoyed by those fortunate enough to live around the Brentford dock basin.

The converted canal boats are surrounded by the apartments designed to look West towards the sunsets. In the background are the remains of some old work shops and sheds, and far back in the mist, the impressive blue glass wall of the GlaxoSmithKline building (more later).

7 comments:

  1. Oh, I'm so jealous of those canal boat houses (although how they go about using water on them intrigues me).
    I wonder what will happen to those old workshops and sheds.

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  2. How lovely to live with this sound of water. Love the way you've captured the rushing water and the reflections in the canal.

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  3. Ah, the docklands. Everywhere in the cities where there is a piece of old harbour it seems they put in some new architecture. Everybody wants to live at the river and have the wonderful view. I wonder what will happen when a big flood comes (here in Cologne). Are there any problems with that in your town, too?

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  4. Cela doit être merveilleux d'habiter là, et à défaut de s'y promener. Tu sembles ne pas habiter loin, tu as de la chance...

    Quelle confusion... Non, quelle richesse de formes, avec ces péniches-habitations immobilisées. L'eau est dans tous ses états :
    *Elle est lisse, elle est étale, elle offre un miroir qui permet des reflets.
    *Elle coule doucement par une marche, alors elle semble figée
    *Puis elle prend de la vitesse, elle a des remous, elle est jaillissante.
    Elle anime cette scène un peu endormie...

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  5. @Cergie.....precisely. You have seen what I saw and felt.

    @April.....like Cologne, London, as far up the Thames as Brentford is threatened. This is the subject of much study; is part of the Gvnmt "National Threat Assessment" alongside War and Famine. In Kingston - about 5 miles further upriver they are right now digging large tunnels under the town to take away water.

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  6. I see, same problems everywhere - in one of my next posts I will show the building site that isn't finished yet, made to protect Köln-Deutz (right side of Rhine) from the floods.

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  7. Those converted canal boats are homes to people living there, right?

    I have fantasies of living in a boat house and traveling up the canals to small like shires.

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