Totnes Envisaged

Totnes Envisaged propose the following:

Cobbled and paved street without kerbs, also smooth paving for the infirm, cyclists and pushchairs

Cobbling, in a smooth and undulating manner,incorporating traffic calming of a shared space and surface drainage of:-

Widen,regrade and cobble the entrance to Priory Court, and reposition a new post close to the café.
Carried out over intensely phased periods, retaining the kerbs from 1884, and reusing some paviors mixed with both new and reclaimed cobbles and setts, also laying smooth surfaces for pushchairs etc.

"Change is not made without inconvenience even from worse to better."

Samuel Johnson. A dictionary of the English language.

The careful selection of cobbles / setts is very important, not reconstituted or concrete based. Only natural stone.

In the D.C.C. Shared Space Consultation 2014 it was proposed to use "an Imprinted Bitumen material which approximates the look and feel of more traditional stone and block is proposed"
This is a surface more suited to housing estate driveways or an entrance to a leisure site and is not appropriate for any historical street or any where within Totnes. Natural and textured stone is essential!

Drainage detail using rectangular setts and random cobbles

Cobbles and channel Roscoff, Bretagne


Variety of textures, no lines no kerbs

Kerbless street Newark on Trent


Regular and repetitious patterns lack charm

Our own unique and spectacular paving - The Butterwalk, Totnes


Poor example of paved street Sete, France

Signage, parking and bollards

Removal of all signage in Fore Street and High Street up to the Lamb. Replace all bollards with locally made and designed hurdles/barriers.

Take out, and not replace yellow lines where cobbling and barriers are placed.

Indicate where to park rather than where not!


Hurdles/barriers Aigues-Mortes France

Hurdles rather than bollards


Example of pattern in steel for barriers/hurdles

A water cut steel pattern which could be cut by Western Waterjet Ltd., Rattery

Rubbish containers

Underground refuse storage

Remove the need for wheelie bins and rubbish trunks which have been introduced with mechanical and compacted rubbish collection.

Provide below-ground hopper fed skips, in the Market Square,the space in front of St. Mary's, Fore Street by Bank Lane,The Plains and The Rotherfold.



Art Sights

Spectacular Tromp-l'oeil can come to Totnes, subject to owners consent of course.

Could this be a mural site, or night time projection, as on Christmas Tuesdays


A prominent site for spectacular artwork

More art to enhance an already invigorated Rotherfold


A flat wall in Montpellier

This is a flat wall, the balconies on the right are real

The Leat

Remove all trees to the west side from supermarket to Brutus Bridge and upgrade both banks, refurbish existing fence, lop and fell some trees to the east side. Clean up the whole length from Mill Tail to Brutus Bridge.

Vire Island

Landscaping, seating and lighting scheme needs attention

Consequences

Júzcar, Smurf village in Andalusia, Spain

The Eiffel tower is the most visited site in the world 7,000,000 visitors earning 78.5 million euros per annum.

Bilbao, in northern Spain accepted the invitation from the Ghetty foundation to build a museum designed by Frank Ghery. Bilbao is now a cultural centre and world architectural pilgrimage site.

Júzcar, Smurf village in Andalusia, Spain, was approached by the SMURF CORPORATION and asked if they could paint all the buildings in the village blue, Júzcar is now a European tourist destination!

Locally, Ilfracombe is visited for a steep hill and cobbles.

Totnes with shared traffic pedestrian cobbled streets, would be a wonderful place to visit, shop and do business in.


Homilies and quotes.

"Change is not made without inconvenience even from worse to better". Samuel Johnson. A dictionary of the English language.


"Quality is never an accident, it is always the result of intelligent effort". Ruskin


"That which costs little is valued less". Miguel de Cervantes.Author of Don Quixote in 1605.


"When a man is wrapped up in himself he becomes a pretty small package". Ruskin


"There is no excuse for doing anything which is not strikingly beautiful". William Morris.


"Friction and discomfort generate creativity and innovation, whereas consensus creates mere mediocrity".

"It is unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better". Ruskin


The charm of it all..

Please let us know your thoughts...

Contact Totnes Envisaged