Much as I love Southampton, which has some wonderful positive things to offer cruise ship tourists (which I shall get around to writing about more – I am usually a positive person) these are some snaps from my home city in support of Banksy’s Dismaland.
All photos © Southampton old lady
If you have not heard of Dismaland then please do an image search online. This is a ‘bemusement’ park that has been opened up in South-West England, for six weeks, by a group of 59 British artists including: Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer, Jimmy Cauty, Bill Barminski, Caitlin Cherry, Polly Morgan, Josh Keyes, Mike Ross, David Shrigley, Bäst, and Espo… headed by Banksy. Actors (as disgruntled security guards and staff) and writers have also been employed (Julie Birchill re-wrote a macabre Punch & Judy script).
The Tropicana swimming resort in Weston-super-Mare, a one-time holiday-haven, has been turned into an anarchistic statement about Western capitalism – A Disneyland gone wrong.
Banksy hails from near-by Bristol. He possibly recalls as a child, summer days on the sands and pier at Weston-Super-Mare, which have deteriorated now. The type of British family that used to spend their holiday here, no longer have money for resorts. Pictures like this can be found at tourist areas throughout Europe. In London, visitors are sad not to meet people like characters from Downton Abbey.
But don’t book £3 tickets on the Dismaland website, or you will just be trolled. The project highlights the down-side of Britain emulating USA-style boom and bust financial strategies. Our boom from the 1990s sub-prime-type/hedge-funding and such, burst its bubble in 2008. Although the Government has announced that the Country is now “doing well” – giving themselves generous pay-rises; people argue that these strategies have little way of ‘trickling down’ any benefit to the common people. There is also a sense of childhood loss, a feeling of being cheated by the false promises of a fairytale with a happy ending.
You may also want to look at this YouTube video of buskers Phat Bollard performing ‘Millionaires’ in Southampton High Street (contains swearing): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhQBAu0Yypk
Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/phatbollard. Downloads can be found at Bandcamp: http://phatbollard.bandcamp.com.
SNIPS & SNAPS 
The question is whether there has been an overall positive or negative change? Soton was never in my mind a city devoid of its run down spots. Some areas have gotten a lot better in the last 20 years, while others have gotten worse. The hardest part was always the way in which the rivers were either ignored or given prime access to the sailing toffs. The area around the pier could be such an asset. However, if it was completely gentrified, would it still be Southampton?
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Thanks for that Leboffin. Your hamwic site is not accessible to see your blog – do you need to update it? In answer – lets see. Some costly mistakes were made. New tourist attractions, which no tourists go to (museums). Once locals have seen them – there is nothing to bring us back again. Bad cracks in city centre paving only laid 5 years ago, mean paying out for accidental broken limbs and court cases. These costly type of mistakes, where the Council do not employ experts first, leak so much cash now that there is not enough to start a lovely scheme to improve places like The Pier or employ a river patrol. Big improvements have been made for student housing (which is good), but none for the ordinary family. People sleeping rough now includes couples, the elderly men and even some youngsters still at school. Rogue landlords prefer immigrants that do not know (or have lack of) rights – so they can evict them easily if the rent is not paid. It is all a sign of austerity and naive decisions made to tackle it.
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That’s a good post–and a damn tragic one.
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There do need to be some changes. Businesses are leaving Southampton – the one I work for left last week. We no longer go shopping there in our lunch break or after work or use taxis or buses. There are only a hundred and fifty of us, but we’re supporting local businesses somewhere else now.
The building where we used to work has less than 25% occupancy. Five years ago it was full.
The business left because the surroundings were unpleasant for visiting customers and it proved impossible to find a building in Southampton with the necessary parking provision.
As for tourist attractions, I can’t imagine anyone thinks of Southampton as a tourist destination. A place for a wet day out if you’re on holiday in the Forest, perhaps, but not a destination in itself.
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Thanks for telling me of your experience April. Another business leaving! And “due to unpleasant surroundings”? This is a disaster!
I don’t think Southampton ever advertises itself as a tourist destination, however there are more people living in Southampton (and working at the Council) that were not born here than those that were (I’m including recently-immigrated and students). I am surprised that they don’t want to know more about the City that they have made their home (albeit temporary) by visiting the museums. There has been a huge increase in the numbers staying in hotels (for one or two nights) before going on a cruise. The Docks are booming but coach-loads are brought from the EU via Dover to work at the Docks and on ships rather than local people as it works out cheaper. I definitely think the Town Quay area should have Government money spent on it — it is often the first view of the UK that many foreigners have. And the QE2 Mile idea is just a joke now. When I see tourists wandering about on it, I direct them to the parks or around Southampton’s old walls and to the Tudor House Museum or at least to one of the local pubs. I can remember standing by the Bargate during a refuse strike and an American woman on the phone home. She was saying out loud what a rubbish heap England was — this was so upsetting. When you see your country through those eyes it really does make you feel you are living in Dismaland.
I have decided that one of my next tasks is to point out my 10 best things for visitors in Southampton.
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Love your positivity, to combat negative attitudes
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The open question is ‘What is Southampton’s Future?’. It has a lot going for it, but at the same time the council wants to do a bit of everything and not answer the question. Southampton is NOT a mini-London. Jobs are critical, but not just office jobs. It needs to figure out how to provide good employment for 95% of the populous. Right now it seems to be doing a poor job of competing with London and Basingstoke. Instead, what is the uniqueness about Southampton which if leveraged would make it unbeatable? Yes, it needs more low cost housing. However, it also needs to provide opportunities for those people who will live there. At the end of the day the council seems to be more focused on reducing its £649m budget rather than growing it to £1000m without increasing the burden on the average person. I left 25 years ago because of the lack of future, and 25 years later things are about the same. Oh, and check out yardinage.wordpress.com for more about my psychosis.
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Ah! but there’s been a boom and bust since then Leboffin – So you grew up here? The Hamwic must have been a clue.
It would be interesting to know what others who know Southampton (or indeed Banksy) think.
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Splendid photoreportage!
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Thanks. Must get around to displaying the positive ones.
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You do have a talent for street photography. I enjoy all the photos, and they make me miss Southampton more than ever 😦
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Thanks – I walk around a lot. I am not a brilliant photographer – I just snap what I see and always ask people’s permission.
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I photographed the same graffiti under the bridge. Used to walk along there every day when I was working nearby. The ship on the shore line by Horseshoe Bridge was lived in by a couple of young hippies back in the early 2000’s so I always call it the hippy ship. I worked in offices overlooking it. They had a dog who used to swim out to the boat while they were rowing to it on a little tender. Our boss used to take them food parcels. I often wonder what became of them.
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Yes we definite walk around the same places. Interesting about the Hippies – I will call it hippy ship from now on
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I always felt sorry for them in winter. It must have been so cold.
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