Comment by David Ardill
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Ordinarily, for a pile of bricks to look attractive, desirable or, indeed, anything other than an untidy collection of leftover masonry, it has to be placed on a pedestal in a London art gallery for pretentious critics to circle and prod, picking out the finer points of this year’s weirdest entry into the Turner Prize. In Ellesmere this Christmas, however, something very strange happened; with no pretentious critics within a 50-mile radius, a mountainous pile of rubble, bricks and settled dust rose from the plain on the site of the former Dairy and I think I will be joined by the people of Ellesmere, speaking as one, when I say: Never has a pile of bricks looked so attractive. |
I enjoyed almost two years working for the Oswestry Advertizer, working closely with many members of the Ellesmere public and being fortunate (!) enough on several occasions to cover stories of the blighted past and uncertain future of the drug-riddled, crime-ravaged death trap that formed the centre of industry in our town for so many years, prior to its demise in the 80s.
It is amazing what a few months away can do for perspective – when I left the Advertizer, and left Ellesmere, for the bright lights and late nights of the University of Chester, the biggest blot on the town’s landscape remained, painfully reminding those old enough to remember it, of the lost glory days whilst simultaneously shaping the impressions of hundreds, or indeed thousands, of visitors arriving in Ellesmere for the first time on the canal network.
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Having been given a ‘guided tour’ of the former dairy site last year, I was shocked and appalled at what I saw – not just because it struck home just how large the scale of the dairy operation was in its heyday and how much of a sad waste it had since become, but because I suddenly realised just how dangerous the whole place was, not to mention downright depressing.
How it has taken so long to just drive a bulldozer at it and raze the whole sorry mess to the ground is beyond me – that wizened old politician John Prescott may have come to the exact opposite conclusion to everyone else about the best use of the site and its suitability for a retail village which would revive the town and its ‘hinterlands’ – but to step back totally and let it reach such a horrifying state of decay, exposed to vandals and drug addicts alike, is not only an insult to the memory of a once thriving local industry and its grand premises, but is also a poke in the eye for all the loyal Ellesmere natives forced to see it day in day out.
It is sad that, despite the obvious and overwhelming negative vibe emanating from the site – the shadows, broken glass and falling roof tiles providing only the faintest echo of the glorious past – most people, like myself, have become used to seeing it and it is now second nature to shrug it off as the dirty public secret that no-one has been able to do anything about, until now.
The potential of the old warehouse building as a trendy wine bar or classy restaurant is clear for anyone to see, while the vast expanse of green land adjacent to Berwyn View could provide limitless possibilities. Houses, retirement homes, shops, a medical centre and a new public square have all been promised within the next two years.
So, developers Pochin’s PLC are confident of introducing the first phase of the regeneration project by the middle of this year, subject to the green light from all the relevant authorities – great news for the future of the town, doubtless (just about) everybody will agree. One thing is for sure, however, with that shocking, disgraceful disaster of a site finally cleared, the longest-running itch the town has perhaps ever had to endure, is finally about to be scratched, and maybe, just maybe, the White Knights of Pochin’s can use the blank canvas it has provided to create a work of art fit to win the Turner Prize.
David Ardill is an Ellesmere resident currently reading Communications Studies at the University of Chester.
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