20 Slideshows
13. The Urinal. c. 3.30pm.
From the peaceful pastoral section of sites 9 to 12, we pass to what has proved the most violent of all the locations. In 1982 the nation was at war, a fact that was not seemingly going to leave its mark on 20 Sites. However, site 13 did not let me down on the aggression front for as Leo and I made a final check on feet position etc., an armoured car appeared in the distance to pass right by the ex-urinal, which had become a wall, as I took the photograph.
In 1983 our first substantial CND sign is visible. 1984 we were approached by a policeman who asked us if we had been there a quarter of an hour ago and seen, or, even better, photographed, a man coming out of the office building carrying a till. In one sense, I regretted, and not for good citizen reasons, that we'd missed the spectacle. 20 sites shown in a court of law, the first criminal to be convicted by virtue of his presence in a work of art.
In 1982 work is underway on the council buildings which by 1983 have been transformed into flats. The urinal, closed since 1980, is eventually redeveloped and makes its debut as shops and flats in 2007. In 2010 estate agents open on the corner.