An Ugly Bugger of a Building

An Ugly Bugger of a Building

"An ugly bugger of a building"(UBB) is what my sister said when she saw the SAGA headquarters perched on top Ebrook Park in Sandgate suggesting the building was more suited to housing a power station than the offices of a travel and insurance company for the over fifties.  But this was a reaction to the genteel nature of the older buildings surrounding the park and the ones you don't see from the road that face the sea.  The auditorium building is better to look at reminiscent of the Sydney Opera House, a relief from the steel grey monolithic building that dominates the skyline.  That is the objection.  It is an architect's dream of verticality with the atrium taking space that could have been used to reduce the height and maybe have stepped it down with gardens on the balcony rooftops, trees instead of lifts and stairs.

However, we came, we saw, we mocked.

The intention was to get away from the rain on the hills and head for the seaside and never having stopped in Sandgate before we decided to go there, park and wander around the township.  We walked along the waterfront to Folkstone and stopped off at the Mermaid Cafe for coffee.  From there we wandered up into the gardens and discovered the children's adventure and play area which made us jealous of the children.  Don't you just want to climb on the pirate ship?

There was much more of course.  The zig-zag pathway beckoned but we left that to walk along further to find a three men practicing agile athletic movements - somersaulting over a barbecue table was one such - handstands under control and one man who leapt onto the graduated posts set there for that purpose and did a back flip from the tallest.  Amazing.  I was impressed but Zoid the dog couldn't have cared less, there was food around to steal and a drink of water to be had.

Apartments - Folkstone

Folkstone, the Leas and the waterfront gardens, were a treat for the eye, bulb flowers in abundance, neatly planted beds interspersed with meadow-land areas, bridges with wooden rails spanning pathways in arcs  and views of the sea all added to the pleasure of the visit.  All this before we saw the full impact of the UBB.  The waterfront where once the show grounds were was clear and beginning to look as if somebody cared and the magnificent arc of tenements that once were falling apart glistened in the May sunshine.

View point: that once these buildings should have been used to house asylum seekers (and others) and allowed to deteriorate - the asylum seekers deserved better treatment anyway - was criminal in its concept.  It appears that Folkstone is at last getting its just desserts, and that is a sensible policy on dispersion for asylum seekers and a regeneration that might make the place attractive to visitors.

Amazing Grace

We liked what we saw and will make another visit.  There is a matter of scoffing shellfish (I can get rather selfish about eating shellfish) When it comes to eating cockles, mussels and shrimps, this partly portly bloke is a guts.

Walking from Sandgate to Folkstone is pleasant and walking back over the top you you can pass the Grand Hotel which is a magnificent building and appreciate quality.  We did not visit the Grand Pavilion but did appreciate the building from below.  The attraction was the zig-zag pathway.  At the top there is a bandstand, bereft this day of a band but compensated by a trio singing a version of Amazing Grace accompanied by music from their own acoustic instruments.  It was a wistful yet sincere performance.

We had left behind us the wonderful views of the new sea wall works and the breakwater groynes as well as the tasteful sand pit on the beach for the children yet wherever we went along the cliff tops we were always aware of the sea.  This day it was hazy but tranquil; the heat enough to drive Sister into the shade, the dog to demand water and me to feel as if winter was a myth.

The intention was to explore Sandgate but it looks as if we will have to visit the place again.  We walked down from the cliffs into the township admiring the ragstone buildings and the use of sandstone on some, liking the wooden clad houses and the general seaside look of the place.  We added more money to the council coffers and paid for another hour of parking after stopping off at a cafe for a pot of tea and a bun.  They let us take the dog out the back and have the tea there in the shade - Sister and Dog by this time were melting - and I felt like a bod out of one of the great artist's stories, in a cafe with bicycles around and people doing unrelated business as we sat and chatted.

View down on the Sandpit

All in all a great experience.

But back to the ugly bugger of a building; we had added the hour because we wanted to walk a round the town a little and explore the gardens.  We did not know that the building we saw was the SAGA building because we did not see the stainless steel sign at the entrance.  It was a custard pie effect when we realised that we were facing poor taste, the old custard pie routines become poor taste, but I like custard pies, I did not like the building.

Folkstone Gardens

The park was nice, a bit neat but then probably it has been saved from further encroachment by the Saga organisation, so all power to them, but I wish the building wasn't so damned intrusive.

Note that the stream running the length of the park was dry.  Not a good sign.