The Abandoned Playground

The rain has gradually stopped but quite a few folk have been going bout on stilts.

This pic shows the abandoned playground of Stromness Primary School.  A new PS was completed at the head of Hamnavoe 2 years ago.  The old PS (a contentious design when it was built) now overlooks the town and lies empty.  A few years ago I had quite a lot of visits to work in central Romania, sadly a country that was (and still is) quite impoverished.  The school that has been abandoned in Stromness would be state-of-the-art in Romania and they would be thankful for it.  We seem to have the habit of designing-in ineptitude and a low maintenance regime in a myriad of building throughout the UK.  Another example is the three School Hostels that have been built and used in Kirkwall during the past 43 years.  As the generations slip by there appears to be no ownership in any building regime.  Negligence seems to be the way.

Once again folk were queuing outside Flett’s to get their New Year goods.  I went to visit my Mum for the last time of the year.  She reminded me that she still has her ration card.  She didn’t mention Lord Haw-Haw.

Happy New Year to Blippers everywhere, whenever it arrives.