Old vs New and a Touch of Whimsy

These three pictures are of the old school in Stafford, once part of St. Mary's Collegiate Church.

As you can easily see, the school has been both rehabbed and re-purposed.

The school was in two sections.  Although this is just a guess, I would think one section was for younger scholars and one for older.  At least that makes sense to me.

Both sections now have modern awnings attached and have been turned into shops.

A new life for buildings that might have just been allowed to decay.

As these pictures show, the town has an abundance of beautifully restored/maintained buildings centuries old.

In fact, some of the oldest timber framed buildings in Europe are located in Stafford and they are still in use today, 400 plus years later!

But all is not sunshine and clear skies.  

Remember St. Chad's Church?  On one side of the church is an historic timber framed building.

It is one of many to be found on the main shopping street of the town.

On the other side, however, the building is not historic; it is not attractive ; it will not stand the test of time. 

It is, in fact an ugly brick and plastic type building built in the 1960s when modern was the watchword of the world, it seems.

To build the eyesore, historic timber framed buildings were torn down!  Deliberately. 

They are now gone forever and ugliness is what is to show for it.

Maybe someone will soon tear down the 60's monstrocity?  An open lot would be better than what is there now.  Or, that is my not so humble  opinion.

This picture is included because it appealed to my sense of whimsy.  A timber framed house added a timber framed birdhouse to the side.  Now THAT I like. :-)