Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Thought for the Day

Arriving in Wakefield is not unlike arriving in Dublin. For some reason.
Posted by Bryan Appleyard at 1:35 pm

17 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 16, 2008 1:48 pm

    One of my least favourite places, Wakefield.

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  2. NigeJuly 16, 2008 2:09 pm

    Having never been to either, I can only hope you're right. You're sure it is Wakefield? Not Dublin?

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  3. Bryan AppleyardJuly 16, 2008 2:35 pm

    Could be Dublin now you mention it

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  4. Uncle Dick MadeleyJuly 16, 2008 2:36 pm

    I understand that it has a very nice prison. You didn't arrive in handcuffs, did you Bryan?

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  5. Bryan AppleyardJuly 16, 2008 2:39 pm

    Now I am confused. Did I arrive in Dublin in handcuffs. There are at least two great crested grebes in Wakefield.

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  6. Uncle Dick MadeleyJuly 16, 2008 2:43 pm

    Oh, here we go with the crested grebes and handcuffs... Sexy twitcher talk just because Nige is around.

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  7. VinceJuly 16, 2008 2:56 pm

    Moore & Hepworth ?.

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  8. Bryan AppleyardJuly 16, 2008 3:13 pm

    Noguchi in fact

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  9. Bryan AppleyardJuly 16, 2008 3:14 pm

    Noguchi in fact

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  10. Neil ForsythJuly 16, 2008 3:28 pm

    What a strange thought. As someone who was born and reared in Dublin, I have very little memory of my arrival here. So what is it about arriving in Wakefield that reminds you of Dublin? If I were to visit Wakefield would I find it rather discombobulating? I know you were in Dublin last year or the year before and if you came through Dublin airport I'm sure it was not a pleasant experience.

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  11. mahlermanJuly 16, 2008 4:58 pm

    I know Dublin well and Wakefield hardly at all but, leaving aside the obvious differences in size, population, prosperity etc, and the fact that Dublin is a maritime capital 'abroad', my guess would be that it is the Victorian/Georgian 'feel' of Dublin, that I first experienced in 1969 when living there, that Bryan found a parallel with in Wakefield. Dear Dirty Dublin existed of course, back in the 70's, and despite the staggering growth of Ireland over the last 15 years, not all the grot has been chromium-plated, thank God, and probably what Bryan 'felt' in Wakefield was the fading patina of a once fine city, that had seen more prosperous times, but lacked Dublin's fat coffers of Brussels Euros to build those highways, and get the population off scones and on to Big Macs.

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  12. AnonymousJuly 16, 2008 8:37 pm

    No offences intended but if your average Joe Bloggs posted a line like that I'm not sure he'd have got 6 responses.

    I wonder if this sort of thing worries you (and other famous people?). That people might give you attention for the wrong reasons.

    Yeah,Im just jealous i know. And yeah you no doubt deserve it.

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  13. Neil ForsythJuly 16, 2008 8:59 pm

    Yes, indeed, Mahlerman, we still have the grot and grey shabbiness. I believe this is part of Dublin's charm. I'm not so sure. As you probably know, great swathes of Georgian Dublin were bulldozed in the 60s and 70s, in an act of mindless vandalism. We haven't really recovered from that act of folly and some dubious planning decisions in the 80s and 90s have certainly left the city badly disjointed. But it's hard for me to be objective about these things, for I live and work here. I'm blinded by familiarity to a certain extent.

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  14. mahlermanJuly 17, 2008 4:42 am

    I'm sure Nerdy that Bryan can answer that charge for himself(?), but if you look beneath the mugshot of this famous person, you will notice the raison d'etre of the site - to make one think (about, say, a juxtaposition of Dublin and Wakefield), and having promoted that thought, to invite your own musings on the subject. If true, then you and I have strayed off-message - but you get the point, I'm sure.

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  15. BritJuly 17, 2008 8:38 am

    Was there a traffic jam?

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  16. Frank WilsonJuly 17, 2008 1:13 pm

    See the Vicar.

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  17. AnonymousJuly 18, 2008 3:44 am

    Yes Mahlerman, I agree with you.

    I guess I'm just also interested in the 'psychology of fame' generally. I wonder what Bryan thinks of this question, as a (relatively) famous person. i.e how has life changed through fame, is your consciousness of the division between your subjective inscape and public persona greater than for the average joe. What is nice, and not nice about not being a nobody like me, etc.

    As regards Wakefield I remember the enormous wall that hugged the prison. Dublin resonates less sharply as I was only there for two hours.

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