View Full Version : The NEW Black Stairs
webmannie
27-Apr-05, 18:39
Are they doing a good job or have they destroyed part of our heritage?
http://www.caithness.org/atoz/wick/photogallery/thumbs.htm?12?63
2little2late
27-Apr-05, 21:01
Are they doing a good job or have they destroyed part of our heritage?
I think the best thing we can do is to wait until the work is finished and then decide. But from what I can see it looks like they are doing a good job. At least the stairs are going to last another 100 years or more.
George Brims
27-Apr-05, 22:57
When did the Black Stairs become Blackstairs?
I would love to know what happened to all the old steps they tore out. If I was still living there I would have been around offering to salvage some of the material. Actually an enterprising person could chop it into wee cubes and sell it to exiles....
perhaps they'll use the old stone to rebuild them in the Wick Society buildings, next to the lighthouse :)
I think they should definitely use the old stione.
Ther eis however one thing i would like them to change about the stairs - id like them easier to climb on the way home from the pub. When i lived in wick - just near the top of the stairs .... i could trot upand down them without too much trouble - unless i had been out for a drink. if i was even a little tipsy i had to stop halfway up for a rest.
Sp original please but easier when one is a little merry
~~Tides~~
28-Apr-05, 11:45
So are they going to rename the pub eh Grey Stairs? At stones have been there for hundreds of years and now they have ripped them out to replace them with concrete! Would the straighten the Tower of Pisa?! [mad]
mike.mckenzie
28-Apr-05, 11:51
When did the Black Stairs become Blackstairs?
I would love to know what happened to all the old steps they tore out. If I was still living there I would have been around offering to salvage some of the material. Actually an enterprising person could chop it into wee cubes and sell it to exiles....
Haha, like the chunks of the berlin wall you can still buy in Berlin! They've got them on postcards and even keyrings. Not sure if they're all real mind...
At stones have been there for hundreds of years and now they have ripped them out to replace them with concrete!
Concrete??? Where? All I see is flagstone. Looks like they are using the odd old blocks as well, must be some that were still ok from the original set.
is the concrete not just the base?
Wont they replace the stone afterwards?
~~Tides~~
29-Apr-05, 16:44
No because you can see in the pictured it has those stupid carvings in them.
http://www.caithness.org/photos/atoz/wick/blackstairs/bsw12.jpg
Thats concrete!
George Brims
29-Apr-05, 17:42
No, that's Caithness flagstone that has been cut with a diamond saw. It always looks grey when it's newly cut, but more especially when covered in fine dust from that way of cutting. To make it black like the original stairs it needs to be out in the weather, or better still impregnated with herring oil by generations of people coming up from the harbour. Perhaps a re-opening ceremony could feature a ritual drenching in fish oil.
Aye a good coating of oil makes it black George. I used to have a spittal quarry flag hearthstone - the guy who cut it for me recommended linseed oil to get it nice and dark. Worked a treat.
You can actually see the grain on those stones in the pic as well.
trouble is origional stones were hand cut and chiseled or riven edged. new stone is Caithness Flag but cut with Diamond saw given a sharp edge to the steps. I doubt if there is anyone arround who could hand dress the stones to match origional
webmannie
01-May-05, 22:21
http://www.pulteneytown.org/artsheritage/lowry.htm
L S Lowry had artistic licence when he did the black stairs, wonder who had artistic licence in the revamp?
I don't like what i've seen so far, I have fond memories of the area.
~~Tides~~
01-May-05, 23:46
Everyone should get out their tipp-ex if they have Lowry's painting and re-do the steps white. It's as bad ripping up the steps.
I think the landing is a good idea but could they not have done that but kept the original stone? I should have got some mates and chained ourselfs to the banister before they started! :evil
Why did they do it???? What were their reasons?
"If it aint broke dont fix it" [mad]
Council must hev money til burn on doing up landmarks. Blackstairs, Fountain and of course the Riverside walks (lovely! :eyes )
But canna help thinking would it no hev been better til spend a money on e Assembly Rooms!
~~Tides~~
02-May-05, 18:09
Didnt the fountain get a lottery grant?
champagnebaby
02-May-05, 21:14
Why did they do it???? What were their reasons?
"If it aint broke dont fix it" [mad]
Hink it was to make them safer and the landing is so it's easier for the wee ones coming out the dancing school - canna mind where i heard at
~~Tides~~
02-May-05, 22:16
But the stones are diamond bladed sharp now!
Aww well, no doubt the new steps with those inscriptions will be be fondly revered by Wickers in the 23rd century. That's progress...
champagnebaby
03-May-05, 00:03
But the stones are diamond bladed sharp now!
I know - dinna fancy crackin ma heed on one o them [evil]
MagicalTrevor
03-May-05, 04:57
Because everyone cracked their heads on the last ones
champagnebaby
03-May-05, 12:46
Actually i know quite a few ppl who fell on them when they were drunk after coming out the pub!
Why did they do it???? What were their reasons?
"If it aint broke dont fix it" [mad]
Hink it was to make them safer and the landing is so it's easier for the wee ones coming out the dancing school - canna mind where i heard at
Nah its for people like me who cant manage them at all after a drink :D
Actually i know quite a few ppl who fell on them when they were drunk after coming out the pub!
That's all right, I was just thinking it was about time we should trim the herd.
TanyaHorne
06-May-05, 12:49
I think its great they are doing the blackstairs up, and not just because im a dancer. There are more than just dancers who go up there there are mums with prams old ladies with shopping and they were becoming a hazard in the winter they were so slidy and hard to get up and down. And at least they are replacing it with flagstone which is part of wick's heritage.
George Brims
06-May-05, 20:38
If you look closely at the pictures you will see that the upper surface of the steps is the natural ripply effect you get when you split the flags rather than saw them. That will give a slightly better grip when they're wet. I remember some of the old steps were very smooth and had quite a slope worn in them, and it's been 30 years since I was on them, so they must have been a lot worse by the time they started this renovation.
~~Tides~~
06-May-05, 23:03
Had a look at them yesterday, and on the side that they have not removed, you can see the slight erosion between the top of the steps and the dancing place' front door. Wonder how long it will take to create that again?
webmannie
15-May-05, 12:21
Maybe we should renovate them back to the original small width stairs?
Wonder when they were first built, I bet a lot of 'pechan' was heard from the old fisherwifies going up and down!
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