Whilst the weather is at 0 degrees but skies are blue, yesterday I took the opportunity to undertake some hedgecutting. It hasn't rained for some time now so the ground is good and dry. Once I had unloaded the car and fuelled up my taille-haie-sur-peche (long arm hedge cutter) I was ready to go. I sooned warmed up despite the freezing temperatures and because it was really pleasant in the sun I started to warm to my task. The spring growth was just starting so I reckoned it was quite an appropriate time to begin cutting. The scent of newly cut Thuja growth was soon enveloping me as I 'cast' my way down the run of hedging. Because the growth had not been allowed to get away I finished the work sooner than I had anticipated so by 1.00 pm I was home for lunch. Four hours of manual labour in freezing temperatures had certainly sharpened my appetite.
Almost time for lunch
Once the washing up had been done after lunch Lesley and I decided a trip to Périgueux was in order. I always enjoy the drive to Périgueux. If one poodles and sticks to the speed limits, particularly through the villages 'Rapelle 50' the journey takes about 40 minutes and naturally enough one never encounters any traffic jams and usually the biggest concern is to stay awake at the wheel.
The company involved in this massive project at Périgueux railway station
Whilst driving by the railway station I noted massive works on a collection of buildings that lie close to the railway sidings. They are large and dominate one whole corner site. It appears the powers that be in Périgueux have now decided to turn the buildings into dwellings or apartments. I am convinced that even just 10 years ago the whole lot would have been bulldozed and East German type blocks erected in their place.
Part of the frontage which will now make desirable apartments
Built in the style of many French railway buildings, the state quite obviously built to an agreed plan for you see this type of architecture in any major French town with a railway. I am not sure when they were erected but I would guess that it was sometime shortly after the First World War. They have the appearance of depositories, and I can think of one such group in the town of Langon, just south of Bordeaux that are now used to store office furniture and the like.
A rear view of the project. One can get some sense of the scale of the works from here
I find these buildings really interesting as industrial architecture goes. They incorporate many fine details in the design usually with an air of French elegance. It's an interesting juxtaposition to observe; the mighty industrial alongside the fine filigree. Unlike in the UK, where swathes of industrial architecuture have been totally razed or distatefully 'gentrifed' for loft living or some such out of date idea in the new world we now inhabit it's reassuring that there appear to be plenty of such buildings still standing in France at which we can stand and wonder.
Some nice details incorporated into the wall ties
Trains would have arrived here to deposit their goods from goodness knows where
Note the tracks, it would now make a lovely orangery
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