Hot Air (or, at least, natural gas)

[muninnhuginn]

Alongside the more obvious sites of supposed cultural interest or sources of heritage income (sorry, if that sounds in anyway cynical it may be due to the fact that I grew up in one region reliant on tourist income and have spent most of my adult life in another honeypot), Cambridge has the odd relic of its non-University past. It had more, but somehow, when push came to shove, demolishing the historic gas-holder that used to stand beside the Museum of Technology, there was no outcry. The gas holder went. It was as characteristic a part of the Cambridge skyline as the tower of the University Library or the familiar silhouette of the run of college buildings along the Backs. But, despite adding much to the surroundings of the Museum, evidently gas holders are not heritage. I'd disagree, but then I've always seen the remnants of an industrial past as being just as valuable as the great houses and castles--and colleges--that are the more obvious candidates for preservation.

So, the gas holders went.

On Monday, the brand spanking new Tescos opened on the site of the old gas works. Proudly bobbing up in the clouds almost above where the gas holder once was was a blimp indicating the location of the new store. (It is, actually, not a badly-stocked supermarket, with few queues, though I suspect we'll stick with monthly trips to Waitrose all the same.)

Tuesday, the blimp was still bobbing happily. However, by Saturday, things were looking less healthy. Deflation was definitely beginning to occur. The tail (it was an airship-shaped balloon) was drooping. It seemed only a matter of time until it ceased to bob and began to plummet.

A leak, I guess.

Somehow poetic that a gas-filled balloon founders over the site of a demolished gas holder.