A Sad End To Two Local Landmarks

The news this week that both the former Great Marsden Hotel and James Nelson’s Sports Club buildings are to be demolished has saddened me greatly.  As someone who has lived all of my life in the Southfield area, the news of these two buildings’ demise is something I feel genuine sadness about.  The fact that suitable uses cannot be found for these historic properties is devastating for both our own community, and the town in general.  Both have been a part of the fabric of Nelson for decades, and it will truly be the end of a long era when the bulldozers move in to finish them. 

Work Begins on Nelson’s New Transport Interchange

Work has now begun on the site of what will be Nelson’s new passenger transport interchange, bringing both buses and rail services onto a common site.  For many years Nelson has suffered from poor facilities for public transport users, with the bus and rail stations being close to one another, but annoyingly apart.  The present bus station was described by leading transport user’s group Bus Users UK as “One of the worst in Britain” a few years ago.  From my own standpoint as a bus user, I believe the present bus station is well past its sell by date, and offers few real facilities of any kind for the travelling public.  Whilst it may have been fashionable to build a bus station beneath a multi-storey car park in the 1960’s, it certainly isn’t in the 21st century.  The passenger transport industry is moving forward, Transdev Burnley & Pendle have brought us the “Witch Way”, and will be introducing more state-of-the art innovative vehicles soon.  We have excellent up to the minute buses operated by Tyrer’s on the Valley Mills and Higham and Wheatley Lane services.  These vehicles really do make our current bus station look totally outmoded and past its time, and a new facility which matches them is badly needed.  What does sadden me, however is that more of our lovely historical buildings are being razed to the ground to accommodate the new interchange.