Brixton's Barrier Block (Southwyck House) - history, news and chat

[gaijingirl]

Tried to Pm you, but your box is full

 

[Donna Ferentes]

Byker Wall Gallery

 

[IntoStella]

Then when you go around the other side though the ugly ducking morphs into a swan!

From the inside looking out, at least.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

It was more a khaki colour really

Undercoat

 

[Mr Retro]

From the inside looking out, at least.

Indeed!

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Undercoat

That was there for years though wasn't it?

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Tried to Pm you, but your box is full

It's not now

 

[lang rabbie]

isn't aubergine purplish?

It was more a khaki colour really

I think I meant to say avocado but got led astray by the food fads thread in Suburban.

 

[RaverDrew]

Well if certain people didn't buy their wares, they might go away.

If that's a dig at me IS, then it's a pretty shitty one !!!

 

[Pip]

When I first walked past the Barrier Block I thought it was Brixton Prision!

Then when you go around the other side though the ugly ducking morphs into a swan!

I like the back too, those flats look like they have nice little balconies, and apparently when it was designed the architect had visions of plants growing down off them which would have looked pretty lovely.
Actually come to think of it, I'm really fond of the whole block front and back. When I was little my friend told me you got into the flats by walking along the white zig-zaggy bits and I refuse to accept there is any other access. I can see also see the back from my windows and like to think of it as a nice little barrier, protecting my estate from the noise and pollution of Coldharbour Lane (no seriously, it's really quiet and clean here).

 

[Mrs Magpie]

When I was little my friend told me you got into the flats by walking along the white zig-zaggy bits and I refuse to accept there is any other access.

ROFL! No wonder you gave me a withering look when I said it was a sound-baffle against the flyover that never got built......

 

[sufilala]

then & now

oops wrong thread
sorry

 

[Mrs Magpie]

the architect had visions of plants growing down off them which would have looked pretty lovely.

I agree, it's a shame those massive containers (like a giant's windowboxes) have no plants in them, just dust dry earth...a wasted opportunity.....

 

[editor]

I agree, it's a shame those massive containers (like a giant's windowboxes) have no plants in them, just dust dry earth...a wasted opportunity.....

I'm doing my bit - slowly - but the earth is very low quality, and without any sort of watering system in place, it's hard to keep things alive (go away for a few days in the summer and the plants are completely dried out).

But Eme is planning big things this year and we're looking for some attractive hardy plants to liven up our strip of 'grey, sullen wasteland'...

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Sempervivums...they'll survive drought and wind and they are lovely....

 

[Mrs Magpie]

....not very trailing though...not trailing at all....

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

This'll sort out that nasty drab grey

You could be the greenest council block in London

 

[IntoStella]

If that's a dig at me IS, then it's a pretty shitty one !!!

At least when PK talks about shooting crack dealers he isn't speaking from the position of somebody who actually buys off them.

 

[lang rabbie]

Surely there must be an environmental charity operating in South London that is willing and eager to work with the barrier block tenants and capable of bringing in both a lorry load of compost for soil improvement and something to provide a mulch on top. (Presumably bark chippings are a no-no because syringes are so easy to "lose" in them ).

Or maybe the whole block's residents should go on a charabanc outing to Brighton while the BBC "Ground Force" team construct cantilevered "decks in the sky"!

 

[RaverDrew]

At least when PK talks about shooting crack dealers he isn't speaking from the position of somebody who actually buys off them.

So you know who I USED to my my crack from then do you IS?

Have you considered for even one minute, that a not very serious comment that I make about the barrier block being a great place to sniper dealers, may be driven by a hatred for as shitty drug that has devastated my own life and those of many around me?

I don't understand why you feel the need to make shitty unnecessary side swipes at me, over a light hearted comment.

Unless you really believe that I'm gonna get a sniper rifle and start taking people out??

 

[editor]

At least when PK talks about shooting crack dealers he isn't speaking from the position of somebody who actually buys off them.

Wooooorgh! This is way out of order.

How about respecting people's right to privacy here, IS?

(PM me if you'd like these comments removed, RD)

 

[IntoStella]

Wooooorgh! This is way out of order.

How about respecting people's right to privacy here, IS?

(PM me if you'd like these comments removed, RD)

"I've ruined my life"

It's an established legal and moral principle that you can't invoke your right to privacy if you have alreay spilled your guts to the whole world. And if you think I'm being unduly mean to a poor old drug addict, believe me, you don't know the whole story.

 

[editor]

And if you think I'm being unduly mean to a poor old drug addict, believe me, you don't know the whole story.

I don't believe he mentioned buying drugs in the Barrier Block in that other thread, so don't you think your comments may be a tad unnecessary and perhaps a little vindictive in this thread?

 

[RaverDrew]

I don't know what you are on about IS, but I have sent you a pm. Lets not derail the thread with this.

 

[oryx]

Surely there must be an environmental charity operating in South London that is willing and eager to work with the barrier block tenants and capable of bringing in both a lorry load of compost for soil improvement and something to provide a mulch on top.

Groundwork do this sort of thing:

http://www.groundwork.org.uk/

(I've never worked with them directly but they once approached me about a very run-down estate I used to work on.)

 

[editor]

You've just aqcuired a homeless person sleeping under the tree outside the Barrier Block - he's been there all day. If he's still there when I leave to go the pub, I'll drop him off a sarnie.

 

[Pip]

You've just aqcuired a homeless person sleeping under the tree outside the Barrier Block - he's been there all day. If he's still there when I leave to go the pub, I'll drop him off a sarnie.

Or point him in the direction of the empty flat on the second floor.

 

[IntoStella]

Go Enid!

 

[Mrs Magpie]

I shall put Mike in touch with the Moorlands Estate Community Garden....and I have some Sempervivums for Eme....

 

[alef]

No! No! No! Painted concrete looks like shit within a few years:

e.g. 1: Lambeth tower blocks (Arden, Pinter, Beckett?) at Stockwell that were painted canary yellow a few years ago)
e.g. 2: the spiral staircases at the South Bank that were painted white almost ten years ago and now get more graffiti than the bare concrete bits!

The surfaces have to be regularly repainted - creating an additional maintenance cost for the occupiers. If the concrete is in in decent nick, often all it needs is a bit of water cleaning to take 30 years of grime off.

And BTW, the barrier block is mostly dark engineering brick not concrete - painted brick has the same maintenance problems.

Didn't know that, thanks for filling me in. I still have a strong dislike of grey, but yes peeling worn-out paint does look pretty bad.

Minnie Minx -- as ugly as the Elephant and Castle shopping mall is, wouldn't it be even worse in grey than pink?