Winter in Devonport

Urban Renewal

Like many cities which have undergone massive economic changes,

houses now occupy land which was once part of the enormous Naval Dockyard.

Looking across the valley

A quiet city backwater

This atmospheric little open space, lies right in the heart of the regeneration area of Devonport, 

a previously deprived and decaying district of Plymouth, alongside the Naval Dockyard, 

on the bank of the River Tamar.

Art Deco in Devonport.

But not Devonport, the district of Plymouth which is home to the UK's major naval base.

This Devonport is in New Zealand, across the bay from the city of Auckland.

11,492 miles away in the Southern Hemisphere. 

The Devonport Towers

Following the recent horrendous fire in a London tower block,

 fire safety tests on the external cladding of tall buildings are being carried out all over the country.

It has been announced that the cladding on these three, 13 storeys tower blocks,

 built in the 1960s and refurbished in 2000 when the cladding was added, 

have been given the lowest fire safety rating and work to remove it will start very soon.

HMS Drake

A Stone Frigate is the nickname for a Royal Naval Establishment on land.

HMS Drake is the title of the Devonport Naval Base, on the banks of the River Tamar.

By UK Government [OGL (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/1/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Red Sky in the morning.

Winter Skyline

The rooftops of Devonport. the area of the city on the perimeter 

of the Naval Dockyard and the Naval Base, on the bank of the River Tamar.

 

The Famous Lonely Red Bicycle

suddenly appeared in Devonport a few days ago.

"A city is not an accident,

but the result of coherent visions and aims."

                                                                                        Leon Krier 

Sounds like a good idea.

Where did it all go wrong?

 

The signal that the City Council has chosen a new Lord Mayor.

Looking Westward

from "The Blockhouse", in the Stoke district of the city, across the rooftops in the valley

towards the northern end of the Devonport Naval Dockyard.

They don't build them like they used to.

This roof,  complete with clock tower, originally topped The Devonport Technical College, opened in 1898, it is now an apartment building.

Can you imagine any present day, publicly funded building having anything but a 

flat roof?

 

Well Connected

Regeneration of Devonport (10)

A Devonport skyline.

it all seems to be coming together nicely.

Regeneration of Devonport (9)

Is it just me?

Or are there similarities between these two cityscapes.

Village Street, France

By the Post Impressionist artist 

Maurice Utrillo 1883 - 1955

A recent phase in the

 Regeneration of Devonport.

Maybe Utrillo's work was an inspiration for the architect.

Regeneration of Devonport (8)

At intervals over the last couple of years I have posted images of the massive regeneration project that is taking place in Devonport.

It is taking shape on land that was formerly inside the boundary walls of the Naval Dockyard, but was released for redevelopment when the "Cold War" ended because it was seen as surplus to military requirements.

Plymouth is quite a hilly city,

so there are many vantage points from which you can see sections of the city stretch out before you.

 Here we are looking down towards the northern end of the Naval Dockyard, 

on the bank of the River Tamar.

From the same vantage point, The Blockhouse in the district of Stoke, 

we look down over the roofs and across the valley to the district of Ford.

Early on a winter's afternoon the lights are going on in the Dockyard.

The construction of the Royal Dockyard commenced in 1690, 

and from then till today the Plymouth bank of the River Tamar 

has been home to one of the Nation's most important  Royal Navy Bases.