View from my window at work!

[Nigel Goodwin]

If anyone is interested, this is what I can see from my Window at work - it's not that close, but it's on top of the hill out of the window.

 

[Andy1845c]

Thats awsome! What is it exactly? Think of the labor and craftsmanship that went into building somthing like that. Sure beats the dumpy mexican resturaunt out my window.....

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Thats awsome! What is it exactly? Think of the labor and craftsmanship that went into building somthing like that. Sure beats the dumpy mexican resturaunt out my window.....

It's called 'Riber Castle', it's a Victorian 'folly' - it was built by John Smedley in 1862 - even Wikipedia mentions it!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riber_Castle

It's obviously a well known local land mark, another is the church spire at Chesterfield.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crooked_spire

Interesting things we get round here!.

 

[Andy1845c]

It is currently in disrepair, although there are plans to turn the shell into apartments which received planning consent in early 2006.

Wow. Why has it deteriorated so much? Seems like someone should have saved it a long time ago. Can you walk right up to it? Or is it fenced in or somthing? Is it completly gutted out inside as the photo makes it look? Are there any pictures of it when it was occupied? Its pretty amazing. I've always been fascinated with old stone sturctures like that.

 

[Someone Electro]

Dont know why but that picture somehow looks like a 3D render to me.

 

[Hero999]

That just shows how far computer graphics has come then.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Wow. Why has it deteriorated so much? Seems like someone should have saved it a long time ago. Can you walk right up to it? Or is it fenced in or somthing? Is it completly gutted out inside as the photo makes it look? Are there any pictures of it when it was occupied? Its pretty amazing. I've always been fascinated with old stone sturctures like that.

In the past it's been a school, and during WWII it was taken over by the army - I think the rot really set in after that?. In my lifetime it's been a zoo, but that was really in the grounds and not the main building - which has just been walls for years.

It's probably hard for you to realise how much history we've got round that area?, it was where the industrial revolution started, with the first weaving mills producing cloth on huge looms. There's really so much to see for anyone interested in history.

The guy who built Riber Castle, John Smedley, made his money in hydro's, where people went to 'take the waters', and be tortured in various 'liquid' ways

There are lots of old hydro's from back in Victorian times, Derbyshire Countty Councils offices are actually located in the old Smedley's Hydro. THis site has a number of local historical pictures **broken link removed**, this one being the hydro back in 1906.

 

[mramos1]

I have downtown West Palm Beach out my window. And the Drifuse (sp) school of the arts. I have to see the young artist ladies going in and out all day..

But I would trade views with you. That is really cool.

 

[bloody-orc]

this is my view:
**broken link removed**

ok not really.. that's what i'ld like to have...

really it's this:
**broken link removed**

PS i hope the links work... (they are here if they dont: **broken link removed** )

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

If we get a nice day, I'll take an actual picture from my window at work, instead of a stock photo off the net.

 

[HiTech]

looks like someone needs to get busy with a lawnmower and some glass windowpanes before they can start charging prices to the tourists!

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

looks like someone needs to get busy with a lawnmower and some glass windowpanes before they can start charging prices to the tourists!

Current plans are to restore the castle and make it into apartments, and build loads of houses in the grounds! - but there's been a lot of public opposition to the plans.

 

[bloody-orc]

are they making every old architectural masterpiece into apartment house surrounded by thousands of small cubicles that some call home? They just wanted to knock down our one of the nicest constructions in the city and make it into modern glass "wonder". But they haven't realized, that they CAN't do any good architectural masterpieces like they do in Europe or east Asia (Hongkong, Tokyo) with CCTV tower etc... all our architects can think of is a 5 cornered pale glass and gray concrete walls between nice oak avenue and goth style buildings... That ain't normal!

 

[ljcox]

If anyone is interested, this is what I can see from my Window at work - it's not that close, but it's on top of the hill out of the window.

Very good Nigel. Is that the silhouette of a ghost in the second window from the left on the first floor?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Very good Nigel. Is that the silhouette of a ghost in the second window from the left on the first floor?

It might be!

 

[CanonMan75]

Here's the view from my office window at work

 

[Hero999]

That's better than the view from the window where I work. All the windows are made of frosted glass because we often work with restricted infromation.

 

[mramos1]

Hero999:

I hear that, in the 90's I was in a room and NO windows. A tempest room (I think they called it). But it was cool, because you knew when the big boss was coming.. We had to let him in. Mind you he had to fly in from Canada. So we had lots of warning..

Now I work in down town West Palm Beach Florida.. 5th floor.. Wish I had time to look out the window.