It was recently world mental health day, and everyone was posting about their experiences on social media, which is great! Show me someone who isn't a little messed up and I'll show you a good liar. But every time a suicide gets reported, everyones up in arms saying "If only someone was there for them." Well there's still a few billion humans to be there for. Honestly, talking about this sort of thing is a step in the right direction. Bravo, humanity.
And for once it was a social media bandwagon that I was tempted to jump on, but I just had an unusual case of writers block, uncommon in me. I can find my words fluidly when writing about a dilapidated shed or something, but I really struggle with untangling the really deep stuff, and conveying it in words, which is hypocritical seeing as I just congratulated everyone for their own transparency but fuck it. I would be wrong to say that my unconventional adventures didn't develop as a coping mechanism to the shitstorm in my brain. I took to the rooftops eight years ago, as a form of escapism, purely due to my inability to achieve a sense of belonging.
Don't get me wrong- I'm not anti-human. I think most of you are great. Tree Surgeon and his wife are great. Isla and Jess are great. My publicist, Old Man Russ, is great. And I probably think that you're great too. But where does one start in explaining that I find humans unrelatable? Instead of moping, I make jokes about my own reclusive nature, and the fact that aside from being a total recluse, the only other sign of my abusive childhood is a phobia of dairy products. Laughter is natures anaesthetic after all, and humour is my way of coping with the fact that in almost every human interaction my inner monologue is screaming.
But it must be said, so that the narrative is not misunderstood, I'm very happy in life. I love being me. I'm having the time of my life being me. And if I couldn't do what I do, I'd probably end up doing a Robin Williams. That's right, I'd paint myself blue, hide in a bottle, and help poor people get laid.
So today I'm returning for the first time in years to the rooftop of Maplin, and like my blog about Shrewsbury Library, I get to use an exterior shot of the building I'm climbing on thats been taken from another roof that I've been on. I love it when that happens.
It's not Maplin anymore, but that's what happens when just about all of your stock can be found on the internet for a fraction of the price. The former staff have my condolences. However it's the view that has any actual value to me. Naturally, I went up during the night, purely in the interests of stealth.
Check it out-
As far as rooftopping goes, Maplin gets severely overlooked, mainly because it's just a singular roof with nowhere to move onto, whereas other rooftops like Pride Hill allow for rooftop access down entire streets. There is a reason for my sudden renewed interest in the Maplin roof though, and that is that expansion further down the street is temporarily possible.
There's a good view of the Market Hall clocktower from here, too. When I was up there I distinctly remember looking down at Maplin, and also what was once Argos on the other side, thinking "Those other rooftops seem so small from up here." It truly put a lot of things into perspective. One gets a sense of accomplishment for traversing the side of the building and arriving on its roof, in a whole new landscape completely unseen to the general public, but still existing in the same world. It becomes apparent through this sport just how much of our world we're actually seeing. And then to climb the tower and look down once again on the rooftop landscape that I'm generally more accustomed to from an even higher vantage point, it's quite surreal.
The market hall gets called ugly a lot, due to it being a very prominent example of 1960s Brutalist architecture in a town fond of its history. Other buildings in Shrewsbury get the same negative reaction, but the market tower seems to get it the most, because it's the most noticable.
For the sake of comparison, I'll include an old photo of the building that used to stand where it does now.
(Photo not mine, obviously)
In my opinion, Shrewsburys old market tower is bloody gorgeous, especially compared to the one that was built in its place, and I lament that I wasn't around to ever see it in person. However, those who were around do point out in defence of its demolition that by the time they tore it down, it was already falling apart all by itself. Nevertheless, it's a loss.
But while we can complain about the 1960s brutalist architecture all we want, I've provided a solution to the problem in this blog multiple times before- Open up the flat rooftops to the public so that the ugly architecture can provide a vantage point for tourists and locals to appreciate the good architecture that surrounds it. It would totally work! Buildings like the Market Hall and Princess House are practically begging for that kind of treatment!
Maplin exists on a street called Shoplatch, a name that derives from "Shutts Place," in reference to the Shutt family, who used to live on it centuries ago in the pub called The Hole In The Wall. Interestingly, the Shutts were originally known as the Schitts, until they changed the pronounciation and spelling of their unfortunate surname. So if you want to get really pedantic, Shoplatch means "Shit Place." The ghost that allegedly haunts the Hole in the Wall is also allegedly that of the long-deceased Sarah Schitt.
One wonders what her unfinished business might be...
Recently, circumstances have allowed me to get from the roof of Maplin, right down to the larger, white building at the end of Shoplatch. This big white building is considerably taller than Maplin, and has a rather remarkable history that is overlooked today. It was originally a theatre, constructed in 1834 on the site of an earlier theatre that dates back to 1791. And there are plenty of older photos that show it as such!
As you can probably guess from the clues in the photo, namely a fire engine parked outside and a ladder reaching up to a big smoky window, a fire broke out in the 1940s. There's another photo too, which depicts the fire from a little further down Shoplatch, where the smoke is far more obvious.
Needless to say, all the black & white photos from the 1940s are not mine.
Following the fire, the theatre never reopened, but instead had extensive renovations to become shops and offices, which it remains as to this day. So unlike the Bingo Hall, there's sadly no chance of finding remains of the theatre, and projection equipment, since it was all removed or outright destroyed in the 1940s.
However the view from the top is pretty spectacular.
Over in the distance are the three churches, with the flat one on the end being another that I've had the good fortune to climb, St Julians.
And of course, St Chads church looms over the trees.
Like I said, when one climbs a building, there's a sense of accomplishment. That sense of accomplishment is increased when I realise that I can't climb a building without pointing out all the other places that I have climbed. In regards to Shrewsbury, I've done some great things as an adventurer. In addition to the places visible from the rooftops covered today, I've climbed every major landmark, including the Abbey and the library. I've explored places like Radbrook College, Parveen Balti, and that brothel near Wakeman. I've discovered a remarkable supply of adventure, which the casual urban explorer might not suspect a small town like Shrewsbury as having. However, recently my circles have widened, and I am sorry to say that the majority of my recent adventures have taken place mainly in the surrounding areas, Wales, Cheshire, Staffordshire and Herefordshire. And while I've blogged about places before that aren't in Shropshire, like Camelot Theme Park, Long Marston Airfield, the House from Tots TV and Utopia the Swingers Club, I don't think I see the logic in posting a series of adventures in a blog whose title indicates Shrewsbury and the surrounding area.
This isn't bad news. I'm happy to say that I'm going to set up a third blog, where I will post my adventures that are further afield. And I'll be blogging there a lot in the future. I do have a few more Shropshire blogs coming up, but they won't be as frequent. Some might say, why not post all locations, including Shropshire ones, onto the new blog? But you see in the past, I've noticed that my Shropshire-related blogs reach a completely different audience to the people who read the blogs about derelict theme parks and whatnot. For me this is a community blog, supported by the people of Shropshire because they relate to it, whereas the new one will be a travel blog. So if you want to stay in the loop, then it's probably best that I do something self-gratifying and arrogant, like plug my social media! You'll still get regular blog updates if you like my Facebook page, follow my Instagram, and my Twitter, and I might someday post something on my Youtube eventually.
But I have big plans, and of course if anything comes up in the Shropshire area then it will be posted here at Shrewsbury From Where You Are Not.
My next blog post will be on the other blog, and it is a derelict museum, complete with leftover mannequins.
This will be awesome.
Thanks for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment