Destroying The Legacy

The above pictures were taken in Middlesbrough some time last year. I wrote in this blog from 2009 that the Woolworths shop had been occupied by another store who captured the vibe perfectly.

Yesterday however, I spotted that they have opened a new shop in the old Woolworths. Obviously this isn't the major problem, as Waremart closed down early on in 2010.

There are however, two problems:

First of all, the shop looks like a regular pound shop so the vibe of Woolworths is no longer apparent. People went to Waremart because of nostalgia. This new shop has missed the point.

The other problem is that they have taken the signage from outside. This was perhaps the last big Woolworths sign in the country. Emily and I looked in the skips around the vicinity, but the piece of our history had gone.

This building is Middlesbrough Town Hall, which acts as a concert venue for bands and touring comedians. It is one of the few remaining Victorian buildings in the town, and sadly looks totally out of place situated among the glass and concrete of  civic vandalism. Middlesbrough and Redcar look very modern, and suffered terribly during the 1960s and 1970s when council planners took cash backhanders and sanctioned senseless destruction.

Middlesbrough Town Hall was completed in 1887 and thankfully is a listed building, (Grade 2 I think but can't be sure). Next to it stands this;

The Middlesbrough Empire was built in 1897 as a music hall and played host to Charlie Chaplin among others, although all surviving music halls claim to have played host to Chaplin. The current owners bought it in 1991 and nowadays it acts as a fashionable discotheque. It too is Grade 2 listed, which is good news for the people of Middlesbrough.

As I said, Middlesbrough suffered a disgusting loss of real architecture during the 1960s and 1970s when the wrecking balls ruled. Victorian grandeur was considered outdated and irreversible damage was done to many towns and cities.

Walking away from these two buildings, I saw something I have never noticed before.

The building with William Hill on the ground floor seems to be the only survivor on that strip of shops. All around it looks very 1960s municipal, so I wonder why that bit survived.

Picnic At Wayne Manor

We've both been very busy and stressed just lately, so a picnic was in order at Woolaton Hall. By a stroke of luck, we ate all our food before it rained, and then had a lovely walk around the grounds.

I quickly bored with our attempt to have a look round the museums because I've seen everything so many times before. There was some work going on, and for some reason this was a good reason for them to stick up a sign banning photography indoors. The reason for all the secrecy within the house may or may not have something to do with the filming of the new Batman film in the summer. Woolaton Hall has been chosen to 'portray' Wayne Manor. They are only using exterior shots of the building, but might be using the lobby area too.
While walking around, I started to think about the Batman filming and how I could try and use it to my advantage. There was a recruitment drive for extras a few months ago, but it totally passed me by. As much as I like the Batman films, and I'm also guilty of enjoying the 1960s Adam West series, (and the cinema serials Batman and Batman and Robin from the 1940s), I'm not an avid fan. When the first film came out in 1989 I made a half arsed attempt at reading the DC comics, but couldn't get into it and from then my interest in old comics is mainly financial. I do know enough of the Batman story to wing it in a conversation. as long as the conversation isn't too nerdy.

All the way home I started formulating an idea to quickly make something with Batman in, like a quick sketch, just so I could say that Nottingham has hosted a Batman film before. But I won't. Copyright would be too much to cope with.

Poptastic mate!

A couple of jingles to announce the station and the presenters, and things kick off with 'Firework' by Katy Perry.

I haven't listened properly to Wayne Bavin's Saturday morning radio show before, although I have dropped in on it. The main problem lies with the time, and the fact that I have an aural appointment with Danny Baker on Five Live on Saturdays. But today I am listening to Wayne, an old friend of mine from years back.

In the mid-late 1990s I worked for a man called Paul Raffique, who monopolised the clubs and pubs of Redcar, (not exactly a big brag but he enjoyed his time as a big fish in this very small pond).

Wayne has just announced his interactive game, Celebrity Miss, Mr or Mrs. The clue was "You could have put something on the end of it". Quick jingle and then "more fun in the morning with Deacon Blue".

The bar-staff at Sharky's, along with the staff at our sister club Klub Kudos, were all involved in a scam that ensured our wage packets were not opened ever as their really was no need. As soon as the staff finished we would go and drink at Kudos, with an entire round costing £1. After the club, sorry Klub, we would end up round someone's house. Usually mine, as I had my own house. My parties started after work on Saturdays and ended on Monday.

Wayne is sounding very bouncy for a Saturday morning and is now dedicating this link to Bob Taylor, an annoying train conductor who seemingly ruined Wayne's morning. Then we went into the adverts. Followed by a song I don't recognise.

Wayne was the DJ at Sharkey's and was made for the job. He knew exactly what to play and when, and engaged with the dance floor in a way that only years of experience could teach you. I eventually got relieved of serving drinks on Friday and Saturday nights and instead had to stand in the DJ booth with Wayne selling tickets for Kudos. As many tickets as I was given, we would always make sure that we had several more to sell, for our own cash bonus.

Clue number two, "Does he need a lie detector?" I haven't a chance of a goody bag, Wayne says it is cryptic but this is just mad. Maybe it is because I'm not really up on 'celebrity'. Anyway, here's Flo-rider, whatever that is.

Wayne and I lost touch after the bubble burst on this delightful era. Gradually Paul Raffique's empire was sold on, and as it was common knowledge that his bar staff were ripping him off to the tune of hundreds of pounds each, as soon as someone bought a Raffique pub, the staff were out. This was 1998, and I found Wayne again last year through that magic find-your-friends service that is facebook.

'Hot and Cold', isn't this another Katie Perry song? Seriously, I don't know. Anyway, it is being played.

When I knew Wayne in the old days he was always involved in volunteer radio, hospital and community stations that sort of thing. According to his website he lost his way a bit and went into a series of 'proper jobs' when he became a dad. Can't fault him for that, but the hunger was there, and now he seems to be on every radio station in the north of England.

In radio, the weekends are not traditionally the big days, (as opposed to television where being moved to weekends is a promotion), so I'm surprised to see Wayne on weekends. Everything about Wayne's show smells of the weekday breakfast show; competitions, upbeat songs (not to my taste but his style of presenting makes up for it) and short sharp links with a smile in his voice.

A problem with buttons means that we can't have the music clue for this competition. We've got about five minutes left to find out who's won and hopefully what the answer was. 'So What' by Pink is on now.

"One of my favourite colours, that's Pink (see what he did there?), and 'So What', 9.41 GOOD MORNING DONCASTEEER, how ya doing? Hello Vera, how ya doing love? How's your dodgy knee? Okay, let's wrap up Celebrity for today..." The quiz is won by Chris and Martin, who win a goody bag. But the listener doesn't find out the answer.

Wayne and myself come from totally opposite ends of the radio presenter spectrum. There is no way I could be that breezy and 'DJ like', it just isn't my style. Then again I don't think Wayne would be suitable for an unsigned, alternative show like mine. But we don't live in a world where everything wants to be the same, although we are heading there. Local radio needs people like Wayne Bavin as much as it needs people like me.

I thoroughly recommend Wayne's Weekend Wake Up if you need a feel good pick me up type of radio show. Wayne has the perfect morning broadcaster voice, and he should by rights be on every morning. The music might not be to your taste, very pop, but the people of Doncaster must know what they want.

Wayne Bavin is the sort of kind hearted, warm, listener friendly DJ who enquires about Vera's dodgy knee. I personally couldn't care less about the knee health of my listeners. Maybe that's where I'm going wrong!

Sine FM can be listened to here.