Topic: [7 Images] Preston Bus Station - Part 2

[johnha]

About a year ago I got round to processing some old C-41 films I shot on Preston Bus Station in 2003 when the building was being threatened with demolition. I posted a photo essay here: http://www.filmwasters.com/forum/index.php?topic=6591.0.

I had some more monochrome films (120 format FP4+ & HP5+) I have always been looking to process myself, as the years went on the problem of the films getting older seemed to complicate my thoughts on processing. The film had been stored in a bedroom wardrobe and after ten years of sitting there I had doubts about being able to retrieve any images from them. I didn't feel confident at processing them myself, but commercial processing & scanning of the eleven films would cost a considerable amount - was it worth it?

Not willing to give up on them, I spoke to the Ilford Lab Direct (Mobberley), chucked them in an envelope and hoped for the best. I made sure they knew they were exposed in 2003, although I don't know if they gave them special treatment, the results are excellent (I'm not an expert at grading negatives but they look fine to me). The images were shot on my Mamiya 645 Pro so there are a lot of shots to sort out, here are a few:


Getting to the Games by John Halliwell, on Flickr


Cleaning up by John Halliwell, on Flickr


Concourse by John Halliwell, on Flickr


Cafe #2 by John Halliwell, on Flickr


Subway Entrance by John Halliwell, on Flickr


Milk & Snacks by John Halliwell, on Flickr


Refreshing Drinks #1 by John Halliwell, on Flickr

A few more (along with the original set from a year ago) are here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/john-halliwell/sets/72157633274923031/with/15630974710/

John.

[Bryan]

Great essay Johnha, I remember the first part from last year.  I love mid century architecture.  What became of the station, did it get demolished?

[johnha]

Hi Bryan.

The building is regarded as an iconic example of 'brutalist' architecture, although its the concrete balustrades on the car park above that really stand out. More info: http://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/12/brutalist-buildings-preston-bus-station-by-building-design-partnership/.

It wasn't demolished (one reason I left the film processing so long was that the original idea seemed less relevant because of this). After 10 years of the city council trying to knock it down, it was Grade II listed last year (meaning that any future changes to the building will be strictly controlled). It has been handed over to Lancashire County Council and there are current plans to turn part of it into a youth activity center.

During those 10 years it has had no investment and very little maintenance (apparently the city council couldn't afford to run it despite its 1,100 space car park). They wanted to flatten it to make way for a '2 billion GBP' shopping development (where that cash was coming from wasn't clear - nor where the buses would go either!).

Mostly, I'm impressed with the results given that the film was exposed a decade ago. There might be a 'part 3' still to come - the idea I had then hasn't worked as well as I'd hoped though...

John.

[Bryan]

It would be interesting if you could get in there to document how it looks now with the 10 years of neglect.  That's almost as bad as demolishing it.