Whatever the problems in docking our welcome from the waiting guides was warm. They too had been waiting from 7.30am with no news at all about what was happening on the quayside and had suffered similar problems in getting permits to enter the cargo port. The welcome may also have had something to do with the bright sunny day, which, as we were to see, brought all the locals out on the streets enjoying the unusually warm weather.
The drive to the city centre was through green urban areas. The predominant buildings were constructed of wood as one might expect in such a forested area. It was somewhat of a surprise to see two storey apartment blocks built entirely of wood. Many were under renovation or were new whilst others were in disrepair or fire blackened shells. Our pretty young guide Irena – a postgraduate linguist student who had lived and studied in Tromsø for a year - told us that most buildings were privately owned since the demise of the Soviet Union but if a building was no longer habitable and no owner could be traced then the current practice was to burn it down and then claim the land for redevelopment.
Irena went on to explain that the local economy had declined in recent year and the last big sawmill had been taken over last and many of the workers laid-off. Paper mills had also closed so the logs that had traditionally been floated down the Dvina River now sit awaiting their uncertain fate (See photo). Despite these problems attempts are being made to make the city more attractive to tourists with a pedestrian free precinct (See photo) surrounded by wooden (See photo) and stone buildings that have been moved from other parts of the city.
So quite a different look and more optimistic feel to Archangel compared with the rather grey and dull Murmansk.
Irena again explained that due to its extreme northerly position Archangel, in the early history of Russia, had largely been left alone and consequently had more liberal conservative views – it was after all a stronghold of the White Russians in the Revolution of 1918 and until 1920 - but with the demise of the Soviet Union and ownership, the Russian Federation had largely left the area to its own devices once again. It is the global economic downturn that has led to the recent closures of the saw and paper mills.
This situation is reminiscent of what I had seen in Canada last September where all the towns and cities we visited along the St Lawrence River were desperately trying to overcome the loss of paper making to China and reinvent themselves as centres of tourism.
See my Blog: http://terry-canadaseasternseaboard.blogspot.co.uk/
No comments:
Post a Comment