h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Modeled on Conway Castle in Wales! Pity nobody found a decent picture before they built it.

Conway was built of stone and has the earlier designed arrow slits, (a simple vertical slit for "long bows". When the cross bow was introduced the horizontal was introduced, the round holes on the ends of the slits are a later adaption for muskets.

Nice building though they should look after it.

Just a bit odd, down the street from the tattoo parlour.

Lots of old jails had arrowslit openings, just narrow enough so the inmates couldn't squeeze through!

Brick buildings were apparently all the rage when it was built. My father's elementary school and all those Carnegie libraries were also brick. Likewise the campus buildings at many new England colleges of that era.

I suppose they modeled it on the original castle, not the ruin it is now.

The trouble with 2D plans is that it is hard to distinguish round towers (Conwy) from square (old jail)

This is true.

The reason for all this interesting architecture is boom towns. Once upon a time, they didn't realise they'd end up getting bypassed by history. The country's smallest incorporated city is somewhere around here.

There's a town of 120 in western Massachusetts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monroe,_Massachusetts

That's fewer people than in some apartment complexes around here.

There are a few brick castles in the UK including Herstmonceux Castle and Kirby Muxloe Castle. They probably could have got away with saying one of those inspired the design. Conwy? No way.

Castles excluded, most buildings in Britain are brick because of the predominance of clay soil and it is so much cheaper than stone or wood (which was traditionally needed for shipbuilding). Also, after the Great Fire of London, wood as a building material strangely enough went out of fashion, with regulations against wooden buildings in built-up areas.

Today a standard home has a (imported) wooden frame but brick walls. Entirely wooden buildings are typically viewed with suspicion as being flimsy or a fire risk.

<BB<

When it comes to flimsy, I guess it depends on the wooden construction. I've seen wooden houses that have collapsed of old age. It's a picturesque sight. Some of them were places where my relatives had lived...

On the other hand, log cabins are fairly hard to knock down.

William Penn insisted that Philadelphia be made of brick and stone because he'd experienced the Great Fire of London. This worked until the 19th Century brought in tenements, which were a dreadful fire hazard. Now the city's back to brick and stone.

"All things considered, I'd rather be living in Philadelphia." -- W C Fields.

"I went to Philadlphia, but it was closed." -- W C Fields

"They say that the lady from Philadelphia, who is staying in town, is very wise." =-- Lucretia P Hale