Off the radar
I’m always on the look-out for interesting corrugated iron buildings. They’re mostly off the radar, not the sort of thing that appears in guidebooks – you just have to keep your eyes open, and not ignore lanes, backstreets, alleys, yards, and neglected bits of the railway network. Sometimes the job is made easier because the material can be painted in bright colours, making it stick out helpfully. This example I spotted as I was driving past. Even on a dull day it wasn’t hard to see it among the brick, stone, and timber-framed houses and bungalows of this Herefordshire village – its bright colour, and setting behind a small stretch of greenery, made it easy to spot.
I don’t know anything about this bit of iron architecture that looks as if it’s about to disapear into the greenery. Corrugated iron buildings, often built on fairly lightweight frames, are most often single-storey structures, whether they’re lowly sheds or cavernous barns. This one seems to be on two floors, and has a chimney and quite domestic-looking windows. Perhaps it began life as a house, before being repurposed. Maybe the big black door is a later addition, allowing a car to be stored inside, or for access to a workshop. Does anyone know?
5 comments:
I don't suppose that the corrugated iron is a later cladding or an earlier building?
Philip, I have just returned from a very long weekend at a birthday celebration in Northern France. We went for lunch on Tuesday to a restaurant on an airfield near Lens. The whole building was made of corrugated iron - you would have loved it. It was decorated with bits of a Hawker Hurricane! See: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x47dd303c4fffffff:0xe6a1d550da4247f5!2m22!2m2!1i80!2i80!3m1!2i20!16m16!1b1!2m2!1m1!1e1!2m2!1m1!1e3!2m2!1m1!1e5!2m2!1m1!1e4!2m2!1m1!1e6!3m1!7e115!4shttp://restaurant.michelin.fr/restaurant/france/62410-benifontaine/hurricane-bar/2ja5tpnu?ns_mchannel%3Dpartner%26ns_source%3Dgmap%26ns_campaign%3Dgmap_mr!5shurricane+bar+lens+-+Google+Search&imagekey=!1e1!2shttp://download.viamichelin.com/media/image2/max/mG/gB/fR/iLQm-vbf6Z9xNvEg.jpg?ns_mchannel%3Dpartner%26ns_source%3Dgmap%26ns_campaign%3Dgmap_mr&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiXn4fh7JPaAhXQKiwKHdGSCAcQoioIjgEwDg
Stephen: It's possible, yes.
At the oddly named Rosebush near the oddly named Maenclochog, Pembrokeshire, there's a pub called the Tafarn Sinc - the Zinc Tavern - though by now it might be a Pub with No Beer. It appears to be a two-storey building in corrugated iron.
This structure reminds me of bastles which mainly exist in the far north regions, Northumberland, in particular. Bastles sometimes were converted to homes but they housed any domestic and non-domestic animals- such as livestock at ground floor level. I'm intrigued with the idea of an iron dwelling! It is much more attractive than any of the bastles I've seen.
The Castle Lady
Post a Comment