Tuesday 18th August 2009 – Town Halls and Their Architects

The weather continues to hound me. There are moments driving in town when I simply have to stop, because I can't see anything at all. The natives look guilty and claim it's very unusual. But it gives me a lot of opportunity just to sit about and read.

.........I was sitting about reading when I heard the barmaid say she was back at college. I asked what she was studying, and she said biology: because she wanted to work with primates. "A bit like this job, then", I said.

The bar reeks, every-so-often, of old, wet floor mop. Apparently there is something wrong with the sewer (needless to say, it's a new building), and negative pressure is sucking the water out of the s-bend of the floor drain. When the smell appears, the barmaid pours a big jug of water down the drain and it goes away for a while. This is the only bar in the neighbourhood that sells draft ale, but it's a high price to pay.

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There is something about nineteenth century town halls that brings out the grandiloquent in architects. Or perhaps they were just following orders. The town hall in Glasgow, Scotland (they like to call it the "City Chambers") is so grand that movie makers have been known to use its interiors in place of the Vatican. American counties, created about the same time, were no slouches either. Here are a couple of local examples:

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This is Morgan County Courthouse, Jacksonville, currently being renovated.

..........Glasgow was in Morgan County when it was created.

..........Jacksonville is a big town, but the custodians were still prepared to look after my Swiss army knife till I came back out again

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and this is Scott County Courthouse, Winchester. Glasgow is presently in Scott County.

..........Scott County only has about 5000 inhabitants.

..........We just don't do it like that anymore.