Flowers In Little underbank

There is a shop window insert photograph on an unlet unit on the South side of the street opposite Rostron Brow. This is the right direction and a very good proposition for the area once it is securely pedestrian priority.
 

The beautiful building on the corner of Royal Oak Yard and Little Underbank seems to be purpose built as florist once the local residential demand is sufficient. With hanging baskets a street of flowers with a reputation across the North West?

 

Every May at NOTO in Sicily there is the festival of the INFIORATA - a highly sponsored street carpet of flower petals. Not dissimilar to the tradition of Well Dressing. Immensely profitable for tourism and media exposure. In a town full of artists this type of festival would be the focus for revival and intense competition. Brands advertise here.

The four Brows at Little Underbank: Mealhouse, Rostron, Coopers and Dumvilles

Mealhouse Brow leading up the Market Hall. Sympathetic restoration has retained heritage typologies and some characteristic paint palettes around shop windows. Skate boarding supplies and three antique shops co-exist in this tiny curving street. At the exit there was once a town gaol. 




 

Mealhouse Brow leading up the Market Hall. An opportunity to insert pedestrian steps next to the planned piazza to the left




Rostron Brow is still one of the most beautiful streets in Britain. Where else can we walk up to the church tower from shadow to light? This is not an accident, but a skilful understanding of gradient and the structures of the flanking buildings

Coopers Brow; approach from Little Underbank




Coopers Brow; the ramp and steps diminish to less than a metre in width at the summit of this view. A range of materials flank the passage way; brick and sandstone in particular. A true heritage experience





Dumvilles Brow. A very recent addition to Little Underbank above the entrance to the brewery




Dumvilles Brow. The rewards of this climb are really wonderful. St. Mary's sails like a ship through a sea of slate roofs and chimneys. Narrow access increases the drama of this urban walk. Speech bubbles of early signage built into the brickwork make interesting documents on the past uses and owners of a once densely populated area.