Newton-Le-Willows Police Station

 

this building sits opposite a bus interchange, not far from Earlestown royal mail sorting office. just over a year ago i'd made a few bus journeys past here for dentist and hospital appointments in St. Helens, dark winter evenings and overcast afternoons. because of where the interchange is placed, the bus route circles around the police station a couple of times and so the distinct architecture and repetition meant it stayed in my head.

over a year later, only a few weeks before writing, i remembered this building - not exactly what it looked like or where it was, just that i found it interesting and it lay somewhere along the bus route to St. Helens. a bit of street-viewing tracked it down and today, after having got up and then fallen back to sleep after breakfast (messed with me head a bit), i found it a sunny day and decided i'd make the bike ride.

a passing man in high-vis stopped as i was taking photos, i think he was smiling and said something about me taking pictures of a police station. i smiled back, cos it was a bit weird what i was doing.

i always find taking photos a bit hard in front of people. maybe social anxiety, the unusualness of stopping and taking pics of a blocky police station from the 60s and maybe a questioning of my motivations - i wouldn't want to fetishise or partake in class tourism. you get what i mean.

that said, i feel quite pleased - good day, good pics and probably the warmest day of the year so far.

March 2021.

Pete