The delights of Spa.

At one time Spa was famous throughout Europe as somewhere that the upper crust could come and take the waters, royalty and heads of state were among its illustrious visitors. Quite clearly it has come down in the world since then, a place of faded gentility more famous now for motorsport than a anything else.

Having lived in Buxton for over quarter of a century then we are pretty good at spotting the contradictions you find in towns that have simply out-lived their original purpose. There is some truly magnificent examples of Belle Époque architecture in Spa, and much of it is in a state of dilapidation. Wandering about you soon become aware of a history of failed attempts at regeneration.

1. As a centre for the arts

Posters in the tourist information were advertising not only a summer arts festival but what looked like a fairly substantial Joan Miro exhibition which is grown-up stuff for a small provincial town like Spa. More unfortunate were the attempts at establishing a small 'art space' in the centre of town, second rate 'glass wall, style post-modern building with embarrassingly bad, slightly random modern sculpture outside. 

Rule number one of civic arts programmes, first you get the art, then you get the crusties, and as sure as night follows day around the art centre were crummy craft shops and a place selling overpriced organic wine. I bet you not one of these will be in business in two year's time.

2. Public/private finance initiatives.

On the hill above Spa there is a whopping great big new spa and thermes facility, built in the mid-noughties. This is connected to rhe town by a funicular built at the same time. The funicular is right next to a newish Radisson Blu, which rather remarkably has a funicular carriage dedicated to its clients to enable them to be whisked in private up to the new swanky Thermes without having to mix with hoy-poloi. 

The investment in the hotel, new spa and funicular must have been considerable and a bit of a coup in terms of economic regeneration. Well perhaps. Gill paid the 1.50 euro to ride in the funicular, being naturally stingy I opted to walk up a the steep paths through the woods. It could have been the end of a beautiful relationship, for the funicular deposited Gill quickly and efficiently in the foyer of the spa, but it became clear to me after huffing and puffing up the cliffs that the new spa was protected by a security fence, and I had to walk around half of its perimeter before I could reach the new building, and was relieved to find Gill waiting for me. 

The architecture of the new spa is a bit odd. There's a big space-age looking  glass drum building with a spiky crown on top - a bit Thunderbirds looking, then a grey corporate slab stuck on the side of it, which has all the charm of the kind of thing that might get built on the cheap as the new Social Science building for the University of Scunthorpe. 

It is the sociology of these new developments that is interesting. Is the private funicular for Radisson Blu clientele a new attempt to reassert the kind of elite status that Spa enjoyed in its 19th Century heyday? In a sense, the aristocrats of F1, Bernie Ecclstone and his cronies are a latter day unaccountable monied elite.

3. Terminal Decline.

And that's the rub. The super rich jet into Spa for the annual F1 bash, the more modestly wealthy drive across from Brussels to de-stress on Radisson Blu wellness weekends, before returning

refreshed to their Eurocrat jobs, gifting all of us with ever straighter carrots. For all this 'spend' looking at the state of Spa's not inconsiderable fin de siècle architectural heritage, not much of the new spa business benefits the town.

It should. Because there's some lovely stuff in Spa, and it would be a minor tragedy if it all just fell to bits.

Some lovely things -

Art Nouveau gems:

The Leopoldo II Gallery in particular is in a terrible state, it's lovely wrought ironwork peeling and rusty, and the main gallery roof, originally glazed, boxed in with wood decades ago.

As well as Art Nouveau, there are many other handsome public buildings and some nice squares currently used as car parks.

The public statuary dates from differing ages and reflects the dominant styles of the time:

The majority of these monuments are uncared for and decaying, but Spa is not alone in this malaise. In our hometown Buxton's famous Regency period Crescent has lain empty and unused for over twenty years.

We discussed this over a coffee. This too  proved a bit of a failure. Despite being in French speaking Wallonie, the waiter did not understand the term 'noisette'. His interpretation of a macchiato turned out to be a long milky concoction with a sweet vanilla after taste. My disappointment at the state of Spa's architectural heritage paled into insignificance compared to Gill's sense of quiet outrage when presented with the offending drink.