Skyroad for pedestrians

These were the steps at 4.30 pm today, before it started snowing again. It's been snowing for several hours, so who knows what they look like now? I'm not about to go and find out.

In the 1970s, when the main traffic route through Stroud was being hotly debated, a flyover bridge across the new road at Merrywalks (Saint Mary's walk) was built in the sky, as was the fashion then. From the side adjacent to the A46, there is a path sloping gently up to the bridge, which is quite useful as it offers an alternative to a muddy/snowy/icy bank or a longer walk to the traffic lights which have now largely replaced the bridge. Once pedestrians reach this side, however, they have a choice of steep steps or what feels like several miles of ramp in staggered sections. I have no idea why it was felt in the 60s or 70s that these type of crossings would be easier to use than traffic lights! Doubtless they are safer, unless hoodlums throw bricks at passing cars, but convenient? Never, except in case of flood. Cheaper, perhaps...

We used to stand on this bridge at rush hour in 2003, with banners and flags, to demonstrate opposition to the Iraq war. Did we succeed? Well, we got the message across, even if it wasn't endorsed by all the passing cars. There was still a bus station, then, where the building on the left at the top of the stairs now stands. This is now a cinema and multi-storey car park. Bus users must catch their bus at stands on either side of the A46.

It was to the cinema I was bound, to see Life of Pi. I loved it, but found it a little scary for my first foray into 3D cinema. I spent the first half wishing I was watching something a little more soothing, such as In the Night Garden, where I could have coped more easily with floating Ninky-Nonks and Pinky-Ponks. Once I got over my fear of shipwrecks and wild tigers, I enjoyed it hugely. I do wonder what happened to Richard Parker in the Mexican jungle, and whether the island could have existed as described.

As I left, I heard a woman saying to her friend, "it would have been a bit boring without the special effects". A thoroughly 21st century remark!

Oh yes, the photo...I have aways wanted to blip these stairs. Something about the lines, but I saw the angle I wanted today, noticing them afresh because of the snow. I've put on the Smooth filter in Photgene for the iPad, possibly to make it look more interesting. I find Urban shots difficult without people, but there were definitely no people brave or foolish enough to risk these steps this afternoon. Under the snow, ice lurks.