Prudential Building - Plymouth by Rev’d Paul Collings
One of pre-War Plymouth's most prominent and significant landmarks was the Prudential Building that stood on the corner of George Street and Frankfort Street. It dominated the view westwards along Bedford Street.
Whilst it was badly damaged during the Second World War, it could have been saved but in the new City Centre of straight roads it would have stuck out into Armada Way so it had to be demolished in 1951. The site is marked by a blue plaque
Deuteronomy 4:9 & 23 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them....Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden.
I often wonder, if today
We’d pull down buildings in the way
Of progress march, of planner’s whim,
As history’s shadow there grows dims.
Would we too throw, cast to the ground
Such former grandeur, just a mound
Of brick and mortar’s gutted dross
Without a thought of lasting cost.
But do we in our live’s right now
Demolish structures, care not how
We smash and crumble precious things,
Ignore their value, history’s string.
The cord that stretches to the past
Ignored, forgotten, now recast
To form our own progressive scene
Without a thought there once foreseen.
There is of course a danger here
To make an idol unaware
Of glory’s past, and bar the way
That leads to our redemption day.
And long that narrow fine-lined track
Forget the covenant, fallback
Into unhelpful former ways
Instead of taking new morn’s rays.
Lord help me build upon the old
A vision of that lasting gold
That melds new life and there adorn
Your living beauty’s holy form.
“If you live in fear of the future because of what happened in your past, you’ll end up loosing what you have in the present.” Anon
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