Earliest Childhood Memories Part Two- Exterior Features as Interior Walls- as seen in Ex Machina, Including Summerland, Isle of Man

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I loved Ex Machina. I love robots (I'm also terrified of them, due to another childhood memory), the soundtrack was class (this tune from the film's climax especially)  and I loved the story of the film. Another character besides the robot fascinated me however, and that was the house of the billionaire inventor. I especially was drawn to the rock face feature that made up one of the stark living areas.  I was goggling at the house more than paying attention to plot.

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I've always been fascinated with exteriors used as interior ​walls. Locally there's a great example in Bangor's heritage centre. Coffee Cure restaurant cafe is indoors, but one wall is the old exterior courtyard wall of Bangor Castle. For years any time I've visited the small museum I've remembered peeking through the door to see the wall, and feeling very happy at the sight of it. I think I know why.

Coffee Cure at Bangor Museum set up for an event

Coffee Cure at Bangor Museum set up for an event

It's one of my earliest childhood memories again. When I was a toddler my parents would take me on holidays to Rose Cottage, a rental home on the Isle of Man. I have very little memory of it. Just the tail-less cats at the cottage, some of the beautiful seafront gardens of Dingle, the giant sunny face of Summerland (below), and the interior rock wall of its indoor pool.

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Summerland was a giant leisure complex, which originally was much bigger. It would be a billion pound venture to build these days. The pool below is the original, I can't find a photo of the pool I would have been in. I'm almost sure it was parallel to the wall. 

The reason I couldn't have remembered this pool is because Summerland #1 burnt to the ground in 1973. 

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You can see the complex was much bigger in the early 1970s.

They rebuilt Summerland on a smaller scale in the late 70s, and I was born in 1980 and visited in the early 80s. 

They demolished 'my' version of Summerland in 2005, but you can still see the rock wall I remember from the smaller rebuild. 

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It amazes me that my early memories seem to certainly shape my tastes if not more. 

As for the Ex Machina house, it's actually an exclusive hotel in Norway, so maybe someday I can visit and stare at their wall to my heart's content. 

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