muddywolf   10 #1 Posted March 30, 2019 I always wondered those doors on Derek Dooley near the wicker are they needed or serve a purpose or just a cosmetic feature?  https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.389138,-1.4628509,3a,75y,340.64h,106.77t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1xd0RqxT7ocyV5i_I9C2Ug!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
K1Machine   10 #2 Posted March 30, 2019 Thats where they keep the naughty kids who dont keep their bedrooms tidy.  Well thats what I tell my children anyway. ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Ontarian1981   10 #3 Posted March 30, 2019 3 hours ago, muddywolf said: I always wondered those doors on Derek Dooley near the wicker are they needed or serve a purpose or just a cosmetic feature?  https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.389138,-1.4628509,3a,75y,340.64h,106.77t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1xd0RqxT7ocyV5i_I9C2Ug!2e0!7i13312!8i6656  I would imagine they are a decorative way of strengthening the arches, by bricking them in at both ends. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Annie Bynnol   596 #4 Posted March 30, 2019 When the road was built the strengthening wall was clad in a way that it blended in with the Wicker Arches. The Arches now being more visible from further away. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
kidley   48 #5 Posted March 30, 2019 Years ago there was small firms using those arches as there work places, now i would imagine they would be classed as fire hazards or not up to factory rules and regs, and now closed off to prevent miss-use?  Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
iansheff   83 #6 Posted March 30, 2019 30 minutes ago, kidley said: Years ago there was small firms using those arches as there work places, now i would imagine they would be classed as fire hazards or not up to factory rules and regs, and now closed off to prevent miss-use?  If I remember correctly there was a firm in one of the arches on Furnival Road just off what is now DDW that took old tyres, they had a machine that punched discs out of them, not sure but I think they were for the fishing industry. Also there used to be a place round there that made wooden sheds, can't remember if that was in one of the arches or further down.  if you look on Google Maps there were still some places on Furnival Road with roller shutter doors, according to the map the imagery is dated 2018.     Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Phili Buster   10 #7 Posted March 30, 2019 36 minutes ago, kidley said: Years ago there was small firms using those arches as there work places, now i would imagine they would be classed as fire hazards or not up to factory rules and regs, and now closed off to prevent miss-use?  I think these are a new addition as a strengthening wall and will be cosmetic. If you zoom out, you can see these 'arches' in relation to Derek Dooley Way, Savile Street, Walker Street and Brunswick Road. The next to last arch on Walker Street (Dub Factory in the maps) used to be an entry into one of the Wigfalls office car parks. The offices being accessed from Brunswick Road, you can see some of the foundations, for the new Wigfalls office block, up from the white building on Brunswick Road. Exit from the car park onto Brunswick Road was about where the white building is. All that triangle where the new portion of Savile Street runs (from the next to last arch on Walker Street) up to the foundations and Brunswick Road was Wigfalls.  I think the small firms you refer to would have used the arches alongside Walker Street (beneath where the railway runs) and are still used now.  Hope that helps. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Annie Bynnol   596 #8 Posted March 30, 2019 Phili Buster is totally correct. The new railway bridge replaced the arches which were removed for the new road. The new road also require a new retaining wall. The arches and brickwork effect is only cosmetic. Nearly all the original arches still contain businesses.  The arches were originally designed by a local lad John Fowler,who went on to design and build the Forth Railway Bridge, the first proper underground railway in London, the youngest ever chair of the Institution of Civil Engineers and creator of the concept of design and build. In his day far more important and influential than  I K Brunel.   Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
muddywolf   10 #9 Posted March 30, 2019 Thanks for the replies, good reading I actually meant all the little green hatches along the top not the black brick cosmetics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
RiffRaff   10 #10 Posted March 31, 2019 On 30/03/2019 at 01:42, K1Machine said: Thats where they keep the naughty kids who dont keep their bedrooms tidy.  Well thats what I tell my children anyway. ... In the same vein as when they hear the ice cream van chime, it means he's run out....? ;-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
dutch   68 #11 Posted March 31, 2019 9 hours ago, muddywolf said: Thanks for the replies, good reading I actually meant all the little green hatches along the top not the black brick cosmetics. They are there to save on bricks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Debs1   10 #12 Posted March 31, 2019 Got me looking now, google maps, arches with blue roller shutters on furnival rd, and then there's the bridge with "box fill" store in that set of arches, but where are the green hatches, that's mentioned, in first post? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...