Weather-Beaten Town
Last November we visited a town in Normandy, Gournay en Bray. Even the name sounds weathered. Above a derelict mansion. Must have been beautiful in the past. 
The old turnpike building. Not sure what the address would be: 3-8 I believe.
An old weather-beaten shop. Not much is left in such towns which were flourishing in the late 19th century and were still OK until the late 50s. Ghost towns like these abound and things aren’t improving unfortunately. It’s time we change the way we run our lives.
I'm a photographer and watercolourist. I have practiced photography since childhood and digital photography since 1995. I turned it into my main occupation in 2021. I own a photo studio in Paris, France. Antimuseum.com is both my photo blog and the website for my photography business. My public Flickr space is available at https://flickr.com/yag
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So like our own little town in the Ariège, whose glory days are long gone.It’s never managed to find a way forward since textiles died and went to Asia.
Let me guess: Laroque d’Olmes is it?
Yup. Did you know I lived there, or was it an informed guess?
We have relatives nearby in Leran and I remember stopping there. All the textile factories are closed that’s how I guessed. But it’s not just that place the whole country is full of places like these. I used to live on the Belgian border and there they had it all: mining, steel industry, textile, breweries… the whole trappings. A bit like Wales or some of the Northern cities in Britain. There are places like these all over Europe.
How sad that these lovely little towns are paying such a dear price for “progress.” I keep hoping they’ll make a comeback as rents get ever-higher in the big cities — and as telecommuting becomes ever more possible and accepted. Alas, as your pictures attest, some as losing their war at attrition with the elements. Beautiful pictures, though …
Thanks Heide. Apparently the government has suddenly realised that there was something wrong there and there is a plan to invest in these places. But come what may, no jobs, no life. Here like anywhere else.
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Beautiful images.
Thank you kindly
Great pictures! I have a love of travel photos.
Thanks