A recent flurry of work commencing around the town has led to the swift construction of scaffolding at various sites.
Along with the east side of lower Sinclair Street, the corner of its junction at Princess Street, the bottom of Colquhoun Street, and the efforts to place a temporary roof upon the storm stricken leisure centre, you’d be hard pressed to do a lap of the shops and not find yourself in a cage of scaffolding at some point.
We spoke to locals to learn their opinions on the sudden uptick in activity and learned it’s all about as popular as you’d expect.
“Why is it all happening at once?” One resident asked. “For a time it was just that bit from East Clyde Street to Maitland Street that had work going on. Now it’s everywhere.”
Another local we interviewed claimed there were probably more scaffolding poles in Helensburgh at the moment than there were seagulls. Apparently he had tried counting both and, despite losing count “a few times”, he was certain that the metal poles now outnumbered gulls. We did not bother to verify his claims but the numbers are probably quite similar.
“I don’t mind it, really.” Said one lady, clutching her shopping amid a steady downpour. “It’s unsightly but it shelters me from the rain while I’m getting my messages.”
One man, who gave his name as Arthur, was less convinced there were any positives to be found.
“Those scaffolding frameworks are like a giant antenna.” He said in a hushed tone. “They received all sorts of transmissions – I’ve come down here at night when it’s quiet and listened. It’s like when you put a shell to your ear on the beach. But it’s no’ good things I’m hearing. And the bigger these things are, the more they can receive. That cage around The Hill House is rich pickings for messages but with the one going up around the leisure centre, who knows how far away we could receive messages from?”
We’re not convinced that Arthur’s claims are valid but it might be wise to avoid walking under the scaffolding if you’re in any way concerned about receiving “transmissions.”
Delivery drivers, meanwhile, appeared to be in uproar at the loss of pavement space.
“I’m raging!” One white transit van driver remarked. “I normally just park up on the pavement opposite Tesco so it’s easy to get to Greggs and then I can sit and eat in the van with my hazards on, but there’s barely any space with all the work going on now. I’ve had to park as far away as outside The Station Bar, you know?”
