Watch the slideshow first, it doesn't loop.
Derelict buildings, Wilcannia (slide show)
And this is the face of Wilcannia that intimidates people, even when the streets are almost empty with just a few smiling locals ambling about.
I have shown you many old towns with similar shambolic buildings, but there are rather a lot here. The slide show is but a sample of the more picturesque derelict buildings (some of which are probably occupied) and to be fair to the town there are also neat houses with tidy gardens but I generally don’t photograph the ordinary.
Now I understand the "battered and beaten" ... sad. And it is sad, that some might be occupied. On the other hand, a roof over one's head is not so bad. Better than nothing. An impressive and haunting slide-show.
ReplyDelete'Haunting' is a good word. I am glad you said there were other well kempt structures. The slideshow is a valued innovation.
ReplyDeleteI was taken with the palette. Each of the 8 in the s/s were similar although different.
Wilcannia seems gorgeous to these eyes.
A woman after my own heart.
ReplyDeleteMost excellent.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite - the sandstone building with the aqua trims.
It's so lovely to see decrepit old buildings being decrepit old buildings.
Gentrification has swept through Toowoomba and all the old buildings have been re-foofed - they really do look glorious but there's something missing now.
Sue and I saw lots of little towns with weathered abandoned houses, shops, and motels when we retraced old Route 66 from Tulsa to Santa Fe last fall. These places are an interesting mix of abandoned and still struggling.
ReplyDeleteObviously, the paint stores do not do a lot of business in this town.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone, there are lots more old buildings and corrugated iron to come.
ReplyDeleteBill, I saw towns all boarded up like this in the US too. From what I have read small town America has been hit even harder than in Australia, but what you guys call a small town might be considered quite a large town here. Wlicannia, with a population of 700 is by no means small by the standard of other towns we pass through on this trip.
Letty, much as gentrification destroys our photographic images I think it has to happen if the heritage character is to survive. Later in this trip you will see towns that have been 'abandonded' for only 50 or 60 years and they are just ruins ... this is said however with a sigh as I see curbing and guttering reach our neighbourhood!
I like all the options mentioned in the comments. I see them here in Sydney all the time. And that to me is what being human is all about. Progress and decay and all points in between.
ReplyDelete"Seen better days" indeed. I think it was the second biggest 'port' in the colony, before the mountains were breached, great wooden docks loading the steamers. And where Resch started his brewing. So much wealth.
ReplyDeleteBut then, like you driving through recently, I heard that when the river was full the people were happy. They had something to do - fishing, and making boats.
So I wonder if those better days were preceded by the best days, when there was nothing to paint, or smash.
This is my kind of town. Do people still use corrugated iron for housing or is it passé?
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the slide show. It's a great collection of beautiful decay.
ReplyDelete