What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • Blowing up the Red Road Flats – a poor image of the city

    It has been announced that some of the Red Road Flats will be blown up during the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Games.

    I think it is in pretty poor taste. Notwithstanding the fact that people like to watch the spectacle of tower blocks being brought down there is something about making this the focus of a big entertainment production that makes me feel uneasy.

    Maybe I just have a sense of humour deficit today but it seems to me that blowing up people’s former homes is always going to be an act that has somewhat mixed feelings attached to it. As well as that, there is the news that one block will be left standing because it is still used for housing for asylum seekers who will have to evacuate that block on the day. They won’t be invited to Opening Ceremony itself but invited to watch from “safe” locations.

    Making asylum seekers shelter leave their homes to shelter from explosions is not an image of Glasgow that I think is particularly entertaining and not one that should be beamed around the world.

    I’m a supporter of urban regeneration. I’m also one of those who thinks that that Glasgow has gone from being a city which has a fabulous architectural heritage to one whose current architectural aspirations are dull and commonplace. Many of the high towers in Glasgow failed and should be pulled down. I’m far from sure they should be pulled down as entertainment at the Commonwealth Games and sure that there should be an architectural vision for the city which is just as ambitious as that which saw those towers being raised in the first place.

    Blowing up people’s former homes and making asylum seekers shelter from explosions is not entertainment. This proposal is in poor taste.

    ,

5 responses to “To Castle Douglas”

  1. Stewart Avatar
    Stewart

    With out looking at a map I can think of three:

    Belfast;
    The Cathedral of The Isles, Millport; and
    Carlisle.

    I am not sure if there are others, the next two which are probably further than Glasgow are Newcastle and St Mary’s Edinburgh

    Reply
    1. kelvin Avatar
      kelvin

      No, I don’t think so, Stewart. Partly right and partly wrong.

      Reply
  2. Andrew Swift Avatar
    Andrew Swift

    Greetings from Cowal & Bute.

    Carlisle Cathedral must be closest to Castle Douglas.

    I suspect that St German in Peel, diocese of Sodor & Man, is next closest as the seagull flies – the radio reception from the Isle of Man is extraordinarily clear down there.

    Cathedral of the Isles on Great Cumbrae and Glasgow – pretty similar I would have thought, Calmac notwithstanding. Your poor horse would need waterwings to get over there, and your gaiters would have to fully waterproof.

    Reply
    1. kelvin Avatar
      kelvin

      I’ve travelled from the Isle of Man to Kirkcudbright, but in a yacht. Without the horse.

      Reply
  3. Beth Avatar
    Beth

    As the crow flies, I suspect that both Newcastle and Durham are closer than Glasgow. Of course, in practical terms, the Irish Sea does rather get in the way. Having spent four weeks living somewhere that is not quite so far south as Castle Douglas and yet still does not get BBC Radio Scotland, this wouldn’t surprise me in the least.

    St Mary’s is closer than the Cathedral of the Isles, but only by about a mile and a half.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Posts

  • Its about Human Rights, Rowan

    I’ve refrained from commenting much on the Lambeth Conference as there has not been anything official to react to and media reports do not give a good flavour of what is essentially a closed event. However, now we have a published address from Rowan Williams. At first sight, it seems reasonable enough. Indeed, he is…

  • Sermon – 27 July 2008 Leah's Lovely Eyes

    [The audio of this sermon can be heard on this page – the text is Genesis 29:15-28]. I have to confess, that I’ve quite enjoyed preaching on the readings that we have been getting in the book of Genesis. All human life, it seems is there. I preached a couple of weeks ago about how…

  • Battle of the Bishops

    There was a programme (“The Battle of the Bishops”) on the BBC last night on the GAFCON/Lambeth Conference situation which is well worth watching. If you are quick, you can catch it on the iplayer here. The genius of the piece was pointing a camera at Peter Akinola and letting him rant. He made Tom…

  • More sermons

    Have put another couple of sermons up on the Cathedral’s new website, including the one I did on the radio last year, the day after the terror attack at the airport. (“A kingfisher! Right in the heart of the city!”) I was always rather pleased with the kingfisher sermon. In the end it was such…