Monuments fit for a king,columns, pediments, or spires and turrets… but where are the people,asks Tom DyckhoffWhat’s going for it? There was terrible traffic on the M8, so we took a right and ended up in Paisley. All around us were the grandest of scenes: monuments fit for a king, or columns,pediments, spires and turrets. But where were the people? At 4pm, and downtown Paisley was tumbleweed town.
How times have changed. Paisley was crafted in the finest sandstone in its 19th century boomtime by the Coats and Clark families,industrialists who made this town one of the most productive in the empire. Its citizens made crisps, carpets, and cornflour,cotton thread, cars and things not starting with C – like marmalade and the world-celebrated shawls, or with their teardrop sample. But few places have had the rug pulled from under their feet as quickly and savagely as Paisley. As Ian Jack wrote last year: “In 1960,few other industrial towns in Scotland could have felt as secure.” Until it wasn’t. Related: Let’s walk to Lynton and Lynmouth, north Devon: stout legs required Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com