ALDERSHOT WRAP

 

Aldershot again. Developing the churchyard with its paths. In its current state there is an overcrowding of trees which makes it difficult to see the building clearly. I have kept just a sprinkling.  The building across the road is now a care home but was previously the vicarage, and “The Grange” presumably a private house with extensive grounds.

I have yet to develop the Manor House beyond the grey extrusion from Open Street Maps. It occurs to me that there is an opportunity here to introduce phasing, not just for the church, but also for the town. But I think I’m approaching the point where I will drop it for a while and do something else.

There is likely to be a site visit in April or May and a possible collaboration which I won’t go into yet. I did some deeper research on the railways. Should have used AI perhaps, but I stuck with my own brain box, added some notes and annotations to the site context sheet, along with snapshots from old maps and a couple of chain lines representing the railway lines themselves.

 

 

I wonder what it felt like for the villagers when the first barracks blocks started going up and the whole area began to urbanise in response. At first the soldiers would have hiked across from Ash Green, but before too long Aldershot got its own station and a dedicated siding for army trains coming from London with a full load of recruits.

This all began in the context of the Crimean war which gives us a tragic connection to the present. History ripples through the landscape of Hampshire like a chalk stream with multiple channels.  

 

The sheet of exterior views has a space along the bottom. I could add a whole series of small photos taken on site, like a film strip. Or I could compose some more text. That decision can wait a while. I picked out two images from the web to add to my three model view. The pen and ink drawing must be by the T.G.Jackson the restoration architect of 1910. If you look carefully, there are some small differences when compared to the as-built scheme. Not unusual of course for a perspective like this to be produced to sell the design to the client and for design detailing to continue afterwards, sometimes right up to completion.

 

The first study sheet has been cleaned up since last I shared it. Also some model development which shows up on the long section. Lots of questions about how things actually work but I did my best. The pews were removed some time ago, maybe at the time that the meeting room/café was added. So at the moment the church is modelled as it was say 50 years ago. When I have more information we can look at phasing and bring it all up to date.

I’ve enjoyed this study. Funny how things just crop up and send me on a detour. Important not to lose touch with the main project, but this was a good meander in the river.