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Geography 🌎 Exploring Google Maps

Dan

Dan

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Not just an abandoned interurban right-of-way, but an abandoned interurban right-of-way with track and wire. Sacramento Northern in Rio Vista, California. (EDIT: apparently a railroad museum still uses it for old streetcars.)

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Illinois Terminal remnants in St. Louis were still under wire the last time I saw them, but the overhead is gone now.

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Also, the shittiest location for a chain hotel ever.

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I'd like to know the story behind this house.

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Or this house.

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wintergirl

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Another "street that's not where you'd expect it" - Third Avenue:

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It's a pleasant, leafy little street with cute cafés and delis and hairdressers, it could be in the bougie district of any city - zoom out, and you'll see that it's right in the middle of one of Europe's biggest industrial areas, surrounded by miles and miles of factories and warehouses.
 
Bubba

Bubba

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wintergirl said:
Another "street that's not where you'd expect it" - Third Avenue:

goo.gl

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goo.gl goo.gl

It's a pleasant, leafy little street with cute cafés and delis and hairdressers, it could be in the bougie district of any city - zoom out, and you'll see that it's right in the middle of one of Europe's biggest industrial areas, surrounded by miles and miles of factories and warehouses.
Click to expand...
You could walk over to Old Trafford from there...
 
TOFB

TOFB

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jsk1983 said:
What's the story behind this?
Click to expand...
I'd like to know too. My first thought is that it is a "company estate" for the nearby quarry, but the quarry does not look that big to support that number of workers. Why wouldn't they live in Staindrop? (Cool town name, BTW)
 
J

jsk1983

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TOFB said:
I'd like to know too. My first thought is that it is a "company estate" for the nearby quarry, but the quarry does not look that big to support that number of workers. Why wouldn't they live in Staindrop? (Cool town name, BTW)
Click to expand...
When they built those I'd assume no one had cars...
Also I'd sort of expect a pub, a few dozen houses is enough to support at least one pub right?
 
W

wintergirl

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jsk1983 said:
What's the story behind this?
Click to expand...
It was built as mineworkers' housing (in a similar style to other miners' housing of the era). The mine was unsuccessful - there were technical problems meaning significant quantities of coal couldn't be raised, and the First World War broke out shortly after the houses were completed, so it ended up as just a row of houses in the middle of nowhere.

Most locals now commute to work in Darlington or Barnard Castle, nearby towns.

Hamlets - South Cleatlam | Winston Parish Council

Winston Parish Council site description
winstonparishcouncil.co.uk winstonparishcouncil.co.uk
 
Dan

Dan

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wintergirl said:
South Cleatlam, County Durham. It looks like any terraced street in any northern English town, until you zoom out...
Click to expand...
What the ...

That one has "what planning permission?" written all over it. I know UK planning rules have always frowned on frontage development, but I'm scratching my head over this one.

The North American equivalent is the mobile home park in the middle of nowhere. Nothing for miles, and then boom, a hundred singlewides. Where did the people who live there come from? Why do they live there? Where do they work?
 
mendelman

mendelman

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Dan said:
What the ...

That one has "what planning permission?" written all over it. I know UK planning rules have always frowned on frontage development, but I'm scratching my head over this one.

The North American equivalent is the mobile home park in the middle of nowhere.
Click to expand...
More likely...what's all this then?

If this happened just before WW1, were there even 'planning permission' rules/processes in the manner we think of them today?

@wintergirl
 
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wintergirl

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mendelman said:
Oh man...I wish small country cities/towns/villages looked like this in the US (at least in urban form).

The setting for All Creatures Great and Small?

:daydream:

EDIT: Nope. Apparently, it was filmed in Grassington
Click to expand...
Barnard Castle is a lovely town in its own right, and is the home of the finest museum of art and design in the north, the beautiful Bowes Museum, home to Canalettos and Goyas.

The town gained some notoriety in 2020 as the destination of Dominic Cummings' ill-fated trip during the first Covid-19 lockdown.
 
TOFB

TOFB

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jsk1983 said:
When they built those I'd assume no one had cars...
Also I'd sort of expect a pub, a few dozen houses is enough to support at least one pub right?
Click to expand...
Rule of thumb in England: one dozen homes/one pub. Ireland it is more like 9/1.
 
TOFB

TOFB

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Speaking of Islands, I recently discovered my Grandmother lived here immediately before she emigrated to the US in 1913. My Great-Grandfather was a tax collector working for the Crown at the local distillery. They were 100% Irish, though.

Love genealogy.

Bowmore, Islay, Scotland
 
Bubba

Bubba

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TOFB said:
Bowmore, Islay, Scotland
Click to expand...
Mmmm, whisky....

25-year-old-small.png
 
Planit

Planit

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I'd like to be here
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luckless pedestrian

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Dan said:
I'd like to know the story behind this house.

www.google.com

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www.google.com www.google.com

Or this house.

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Click to expand...

They almost look like old company housing - or maybe hold-outs (they ain't takin my propertay! or I'll wait a bit and get some real money for this!)
 
Maister

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I heard the word used regularly when we recently watched the BBC shows 'Victorian Farm' and 'Edwardian Farm'
 
Whose Yur Planner

Whose Yur Planner

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I heard on Forged In Fire when they had someone who did that for a living. They would compete on FIF trying to use the skills they learned as a farrier.
 
michaelskis

michaelskis

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TOFB said:
Speaking of Islands, I recently discovered my Grandmother lived here immediately before she emigrated to the US in 1913. My Great-Grandfather was a tax collector working for the Crown at the local distillery. They were 100% Irish, though.

Love genealogy.

Bowmore, Islay, Scotland
Click to expand...
I know what you mean. I learned that my ancestors lived on or near this street in the mid to late 1700's.

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Planit

Planit

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Why did the chicken cross the road? To get in the round-a-bout.

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michaelskis

michaelskis

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kjel said:
Cape May's downtown is like that. It's pretty common across Europe. https://goo.gl/maps/QnFMcreiniTwTUiG8
Click to expand...
mendelman said:
There's a space like that in Downtown Kent, OH that gets similar treatments throughout the year and even becomes "Diagon Alley" during their yearly Potterfest.
Click to expand...

I guess I should have been specific. I was thinking of the umbrellas. But yes, I love these pedestrian alleyways as well. Also, Potterfest sounds like it would be a good time.
 
Planit

Planit

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The river. The caboose. The Park. The Virginia Creeper Trail.

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One of our favorites bike rides.
 
mendelman

mendelman

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Planit said:
The river. The caboose. The Park. The Virginia Creeper Trail.

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One of our favorites bike rides.
Click to expand...
My 13 yr old rail fan son would love that little park. Nice simple fun.
 
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