Europarc Project

Artefact: Warehouse plan.
Location found: Main entrance large roundabout opposite pub.
Date: 28.09.14
Time: 29.08 minutes.

I remember casually walking across the road and finding a map that was partially hidden by the shrubs. A guy was walking his dog nearby. I recall the sun. Thick untended straw-like grass.

The map was produced by archetech.co.uk (a Sheffield based architectural and interior design practice operating throughout the UK according to a google search).

Client: Cloverleaf Restaurants LTD. (This is the company that runs the new Beechwood Farm pub).

It is a plan of ‘Finishes to first floor.’

Date: January ’13.

Scale: 1:100

There is hand written text accompanied by pink felt tip which forms part of the key.

The text reads: ‘ACOUSTIC WALLS.

A pink line is followed by: 15mm RES BAR BOTH SIDES = 160 ‘N’
2 LAYERS 15mm T/ES/BLOC BOTH SIDES
= 126 No.

75mm INSULATION = 7 ROLLS.

A brief overview of typed text on the plan includes:

Living kitchen, bedroom, assistant’s flat 3, living kitchen, bedroom, assistant’s flat 2, managers flat 1, bedroom 1, bedroom 3, bedroom 2, bathroom, living kitchen, staff room, office, store 2, w&s, m staff, f staff, staff shower room, platform hoist, store 1, plant room.

Back of house/first floor finishes.

C= Ceilings
W = Walls
F = Floor

…………………………………………………………………………………………

I wonder how the map ended up on the roundabout? A sudden gust of wind took it from the hands of a site construction worker? Blown from a bin?

I feel like a snoop. A detective. Researcher. Making connections as I investigate the site. The map has been faded by the elements. Torn at the edges. A treasure map on the roundabout island.

I’m sitting in my portable KFC studio after work.

The radio is playing a Primal Scream song. Bobby Gillespie is saying ‘It’s alright…it’s OK.’ He is also saying ‘Oooh, Laaa, Laaa’ and etc.

It’s Friday…post-work, post-coffee, post-phone charge working.

Pre-Europarc.

Flies on the windows.

Sounds of children and saccharine pop musique.

A father joins in with a chorus…’Are we going to go now.’

Another swig of coffee.

I gaze out of the window. Children are evacuating Mcdonalds – balloons swaying on sticks in the breeze.

‘Are you gonna eat your ice cream?’ Mother to child on next table.

I look at a poster.

NEW toasted BURRITOS…pack more into lunch.

Time to leave.

Into my car…humidity returns.

I glance at a shredded barrier.

Where is The Europarc? Is it in my mind in this KFC car park?

I travel along the A180 and exit at the Great Coates Interchange and head on down into Europe.

I’m now in the car park of the Beechwood Farm pub. It often feels difficult to relax into this place.

I wander along Europarc Way and pick up a discarded bit of paper – it turns out to be a Beechwood Farm carvery receipt.

There are a lot of kids fishing on the lake tonight.

A father and son walk in front of me…father talks into his mobile phone and says something about ‘Suzie staying late.’

I walk across the road and note the muddied tarmac. The former Kerry Foods factory is making way for a new Morrisons fish factory. A boost to the local economy.

I drift onto a path. Two rabbits are startled.

Europarc bus no.1 passes behind me.

This should be America. It isn’t.

Drift. Meander.

Danger, construction site, keep out.

Ear plugs. Blue.

I worry for a moment about my own mortality as the sound of the traffic encroaches.

Steps.

Pick up white chalk along Lakeside. I walk along next to the new Morrisons factory.

JCB atop pile of mud and rubble.

Stand on the motorway bridge and film the traffic. I spin round and around and then back down the steps.

Bloke with tattoos runs back and forth aside the factory. The tinny sound emanating from white earphones.

Back to Lakeside. The empty truck minus driver is parked up again. GGT refrigerated. Volvo.

Rabbits and blackbirds scurry.

Aroma of ready meals next to Daniels Group factory.

A hum of extractor fans.

Euro bus passes by again…empty.

I keep noticing the sand under the paving slabs.

New bus stop in progress.

Another empty Europarc bus passes by.

The most natural thing to do here is to sigh…deep sigh therapy.

I pick up a sodden CD cover – Lynnrd Skynrd or something on Europarc Way.

An overpowering smell from the Beechwood Farm pub carvery returns.

Blackberries near Europarc Way roundabout. A father plays with son in paradise pub area under a fake palm tree.

Image: Advertising billboards from Europarc sited in the direction of A/M180 traffic, circa 2014

I still visit Europarc, although in recent months I’ve returned to an interest in travelling along the A/M180 (which passes the site) & continuing onto the Doncaster Moto services forty minutes down the road.

I still feel a sense of melancholy at not being able to drive myself into the past.

This log will incorporate excepts from my archive of previous unpublished thoughts/research along with my current investigations of the Europarc site itself, it’s surrounding environs and further afield.