Staines Town Hall panoramic image

Hard-Fi lead singer Richard Archer is quoted to have said:
“A lot of the bars are closing, Habitat went into administration, Jane Norman, Thorntons. It’s all starting to fall to bits.”
“Staines is in a dark place at the moment, like a ghost town.”

Of course, there was an official rebuttal from the Staines Council.

My observations with due regards to Richard’s comments:

The concentration of stable energy is centred on the main shopping areas near the Elmsleigh Shopping Centre (http://michaeloon.com/blog/a-look-at-staines-town-centre ). The other areas (marked A) do not have the energy and the business will not be good. This can be easily seen with the boarded up shops or “for sale sign” by the shops.

Should you drive through the town, you will not see any of the prosperous areas, it is like an hidden enclave. The roads pass the “deprived” areas. An example is shown in the image above.

The above image is of “The Town Hall” with the surrounding buildings. There are no less than 5 “for sale” or “to let “ signs on this panoramic image. This is precisely the impression you get when driving pass. No doubt, this is how Hper-Fi’s Richard Archer got the impression that Staines is like a Ghost town,

The good news from Richard’s comment is the Staines Thorton’s Chocolate shop is still traiding.

Thortons chocolate shop in Staines

Update 24th Oct 2011:

The feel of Staines as a “Ghost Town” in my opinion, is due to the River Thames pulling away the energy from the Town, The energy loss can be minimised by a careful design of buildings at specific locations to hold the energy – very much like how Elmsleigh Shopping Centre holds the energy. This will behave very much like a dam holding and preventing the outflow of the energy. I will not go into detail as it can get very technical. Once this is done, the town centre will have a very different feel and appearance. Staines will have a feel of a real town and not a “Ghost Town”.

Secondly, the areas peripheral to the town centre, where the offices and business parks are. These areas are prosperous because they are outside the energy pull of the river. The pulling away of the energy from the Staines Town centre.

Related Blogs on Staines

A Look at Staines Town Centre

Elmsleigh Shopping Centre in Staines

Hard-Fi lead singer Richard Archer comments on Staines – Some Observations

(c) Copyright – Dr Michael Oon. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2011.

Looking to the outside from the Elmsleigh Shopping Centre in Staines

In the past few years, the town “Staines” has been the mentioned in the media. Hard-Fi, an indie band had stated that Staines as a Ghost Town. Ali G, a satirical fictional character kept referring to Staines as his home town. With this bout of negative publicity, Staines council members have been considering re-branding their town as “Staines-upon-Thames”.

I thought that, as I live nearby, have a look at this town. Even though I have lived in this area for the past 30 years, I have never set foot in the town. All the roads seem to pass it.

Staines has been around since the Roman times some 2,000 years ago. Not as a town but as a river crossing. It continued to be a major crossing on the River Thames because of its proximity to Windsor. In the late 20th Century, particularly with the proximity to London’s Heathrow Airport, Staines has become an attractive location to site offices. The town centre grew in the 1980s after the development of the Elmsleigh Shopping Centre in 1979.

Staines is not a natural town or a settlement for the simple reason that the energy is not held in that location. The energy is being pulled away by the river (see image below).

Energy flow on Staines Town (without any buildings)

The small blue arrows show the flow of the river. The big red arrow shows the energy coming from the river. The big blue arrow shows the energy being pulled away from the town centre by the river. The energy is not allowed to settle in the town centre. This is the natural flow of energy when there are no buildings.

It was the development of the Elmsleigh Shopping Centre that stopped this leakage of the energy. With this came the growth of the town as a shopping area and a busy one it is.

Energy flows through Staines Town. Areas marked "A" have less energy

The small blue arrows show the flow of the river. The red arrows show the movement of energy from the river to the town centre. The buildings in the town centre hold this energy – hence the prosperity. As soon as you go outside the town centre (areas marked A ) – you will notice that there is no energy and the shops do not do well. This is unlike the town centre and parts of the Elmsleigh Shopping Centre.

Staines is a town of shops coffee shops and fast food. It does not have the night life – clubs or fine dining. The energy is too unsettled for such establishments. These establishments are only present where the energy is settled and usually in real towns or settlements like Guildford.

Related Blogs on Staines

A Look at Staines Town Centre

Elmsleigh Shopping Centre in Staines

Hard-Fi lead singer Richard Archer comments on Staines – Some Observations

(c) Copyright – Dr Michael Oon. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2011.

Apple have opened yet another Store in this country. This time in the Festival Place – a well appointed shopping mall in the middle of Basingstoke in Hampshire, UK. Basingstoke is at the South West edge of the Home Counties, the large prosperous area surrounding London in the South East of England.

Opening was the usual Apple Spectacular – an exuberance of Apple staff – whooping and Mexican waving at 9am. Queues snaked on the shopping malls passage towards the new Apple store. So much energy being made by the Apple staff and fans that people from the neighbouring stores started joining in the activities. It was really enlightening!

This Apple store is a standard unit at the Festival Place. There is the usual Apple layout of wooden tables displaying the latest Apple products to try. The walls were stacked with units filled with accessories. As it is a shop on the single level, there is not the spectacular Apple Staircase in the centre.

Feng Shui Analysis: As the Apple Basingstoke store is in the innards of the shopping centre, it depends so much on the overall feng shui of the host building. There is plenty of energy filling the building as can be seen in the occupied units and the minimal of “Vacant“signs.
The store will not do spectacularly because of its location. It will do well because it is an Apple Store.

(c) Copyright – Dr Michael Oon. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2011.

Google Earth view of Weybridge Town showing the direction of energy flow and the locatioms of the 3 restaurants. The red arrows are the direction of the flow of energy.

The direction of the flow of energy is crucial in the analysis of any situation. If you get the direction of the flow wrong, the entire analysis is wrong and your recommendations are wrong. When the flow of energy has been identified correctly, everything else falls into place correctly.

Doors of the building behave as the mouth to the body. The door allows the energy to come into the property. When the door is in the correct position, it allows the energy to enter the building. The business prospers.

When the door is in the wrong position, it does not allow the energy to enter. The building is starved of energy and the business suffers. If food is not allowed into the body, the body dies.

The energy flow in this part of Weybridge town is from the West to the East. Giraffe, the first property in this study, receives the incoming energy from the West. Giraffe has a protruding wall on the East side of the door. The energy hits the wall (and the open door) and enters the building. Should the energy be coming from the East, the energy would not able to get in. If this were the case, I do not think Giraffe would be in business.

Giraffe Restaurant in Weybridge

Further down the road is the Bombay Bicycle Club (BBC). It is now closed for business. On closer inspection, it has an unusual door configuration.

The person has to go into the building, turn left and then open the East facing door. (It allows energy from the East)

As the energy comes from the West, it is difficult for it to enter the building as the door is facing the wrong direction. Should the energy come from the East, the door is facing the correct direction and the business would be doing well.

Bombay Bicycle Club in Weybridge. This restaurant is now closed.

Then there is the Starbucks coffee shop. The door is tilted to face the energy coming from the West. The doors open inwards and allows the energy to circulate easily in the interiors. Should the energy come from the East, this Starbucks would not be doing as well.

Starbucks in Weybridge. Note the tilted door allowing the energy to come in from the West.

Point:
Once you understand the direction of the flow and have the door to receive the incoming energy. It works. Your business can do extremely well.

However, if the door is in the wrong position, it will not receive the energy from the flow. You are stuck.
If you are in any doubt, leave the position of the door flushes with the front of the building so that is it not dramatically affected by the direction of the energy flow.

If you are unable to identify the direction of the energy flow in your area, seek the help of a trained feng shui consultant who can identify energy flows in the environment.

Dr Michael Oon

A view of Portmeirion

Well, it is a collection of buildings, perhaps, looking very Italian but in the middle of deepest Wales. The buildings were not built for a function but to be part of a village. Visually they are just right.

The village is split into 3 areas at different levels along the slope to the river side.
 
- Castell Deudraeth – an 11 bedroom hotel with restaurant
- The Central area around the Piazza – this being the centre of the village.
- Hotel Portmeirion at the river side.

I have made earlier comment on Sir Clough William-Ellis whose brainchild was Portmeirion.

Analysis:

The Piazza – The heart of Portmeirion.

The central area (Piazza).

A flat area and the energy is held within the area.
· The piazza (square) is for the energy to circulate.
· Water in the 3 ponds hold the movement of the energy.
· Buildings are the edge to prevent the exit of the energy flow.

It is the practise of developments by many property developers to squeeze as much useable floor space, especially on a slope of a hill. They have buildings built on the hill so that the occupants will have the best possible views. Because of this squeezing, the energy is not held. As a result, the execution of the modern development falls downs because the properties do not sell. From my observations, there are many unsold or unfinished developments on the slope of hills because of this.

A modern day hill side development

With the energy circulating at the piazza level, people spend time there, walk, looking examining the building, admiring the views but most importantly, feeling comfortable with the surroundings. Many people just sit on the many chairs and absorbing the atmosphere.

Hotel Portmeirion.

Hotel Portmeirion Overview

The hotel is the hub of the accommodation business in the village.

Hotel entrance

The main entrance for the hotel people and the energy.
The energy coming down the hill is from the North east. This is also the predominant energy for this Time Period (2005 to 2025).
The other energy that the door receives is from the East. This is from the River Dwyryd that is flowing from the East to the West.
Therefore, the building is receiving a combination of energy from the North east and East. This is a very good combination.

Overall comment:
From the feng shui point of view,

Piazza level: The retention of energy at the mid-level that creates the wonderful feeling of space and “warmth”.
Hotel: The combination of 2 energies from 2 different compass directions will ensure that the business for the accommodation side of the business will do well.

Note: I did not visit Castell Deudraeth which is at the top level.

Portmeirion is noted for the fine gardens and a range of pottery;
The gardens have a particularly the wide range of unique species of rhododendrons. The range of pottery is based on the designs of the plants and flowers here. It is the unique designs of the pottery that have also spread the word of the beauty of Portmeirion.

Long may it last.

Links:
Portmeirion Village
Portmeirion products

Dr Michael Oon

Guildford is always busy with shoppers. Why?

Vanessa Warwick talks to me about the Feng Shui aspects why Guildford is such a good shopping centre.

There will be subsequent videos highlighting some areas where one side of a street is busy and the other side is not. Also, a street that is completely deserted.

I wonder why?

Dr Michael Oon

Broadway is a lively and vibrant village with one of the longest high streets in England. It has a superb range of unique shops and designer boutiques, restaurants and hotels on both sides of the road. It is steeply embedded with history dating back from Roman times.

In the 1600s, it was a major stopping place for the stage coaches travelling between Worcester and London – the Lygon Arms still remains popular with travellers and visitors. A couple of centuries later, Broadway established itself as an important centre for the arts – attracting such luminaries as J M Barrie, Vaughan Williams, Edward Elgar and American artists Edwin Austin Abbey and John Singer Sargent.

Then, Broadway became involved in the development of the Arts and Crafts movement – with William Morris a regular visitor and Gordon Russell establishing his furniture workshop in the village.

Why then is Broadway such a prosperous place?

The High Street runs from the east, from the foothills of the “West Cotswold Escarpment”, to the west as a very gentle downhill slope. The energy flows down the hills and gently rolls down the street. The road is wide and the buildings are set far apart; enabling the energy to move downhill slowly – hence the prosperity over the ages.

The situation between Silver Street (Dursley) and Broadway is very different.

In Silver Street (Dursley), the gap between the buildings is narrow thus squeezing the energy flow, making it speed up which in turn, creates a turbulent flow. The area is not prosperous as the buildings are boarded up.

In Broadway, the street are wide and the buildings are set far apart. The allows the energy to flow slowly in a smooth and gentle manner. This village has been and will be prosperous for a long time to come (as long as the village remains unchanged).

Dr Michael Oon

Dursley Town Centre – Street Scene

But, there is one area in Silver Street that is very different from the rest. Why?

Silver Street at the narrow point

This area of Silver Street is lined with shops on both side of the road but they have been closed or boarded up for quite some time. It is certainly not a prosperous area. Why?

Could it be because it is -
- not receiving any energy?
- getting inauspicious energy from a “poor” compass direction?
- anything else?

Google Earth – Street Image of Dursley Town Centre

Description of the area.

The energy (red arrows) from the 2 roads from the town centre (from the West) and Long Street (from the north east) join at the junction and then flow downhill to Silver Street. This part of Silver street is the lowest level.

Interpretation:

1. The area is filled with energy from the roads from the Town centre and Long Street.

2. The west and north-east compass directions are auspicious directions at the moment.

3. When you look at the image below, the street at this point is narrows; there is a small pavement (side walk) on either side and the road narrows. This narrowing of the road would compress the energy making it move faster, thereby causing turbulence – making this location inauspicious.

Silver street – street scene.

Conclusion:
In the town centre, the street is wide. The energy can move slowly through the town thereby distributing the energy evenly. When the energy starts to move faster, as this location on Silver Street, the energy loses its “vitality” and the place is no longer prosperous.

When Energy moves too fast, it is inauspicious. Energy is auspicious when it moves slowly.

As it is, this part of Dursley will be the weakest when the economic upturn returns. The only solution that I can suggest would be a re-development of the area – the rebuilding of one side of the road.  Thereby, the buildings on both sides of the road will be further apart, the energy will move slower and the place will be really prosperous. It has the potential to be a very prosperous location as it is “fed” with really good auspicious energy.

Dr Michael Oon

Bourton on the Water

When I was a schoolboy in Singapore, I read my father’s book on the British isles. What fascinated me was the chapter on Bourton-on-the-Water. A small village in Gloucestershire which has a river flowing through the centre with 5 small bridges. But, the focus of the feature article was the model village (1/9 scale). The photographs showed a disproportionately ratio; man being larger than the buildings. Every since, I have held an interest in the “Venice of the Coswolds”

Since my first visit in the 70s and subsequent visits, including this one, the village is extremely busy with tourists. This time, with my knowledge of Feng Shui for towns and cities, I wanted to know why there is this continual prosperity.

Water is associated with prosperity of towns and cities.

1. The prosperity of seaside towns changes with time, for example. Blackpool, Brighton, Bournemouth or Sandbanks.
2. Perhaps, it could be the the direction of the flow of water in rivers. These rules are called “Dragon Gate”.
3. Or, possibly other reasons.

The River Windrush, which flows through Bourton village centre, is spanned by several attractive footbridges. Around the river is the village green (lawns) and surrounded by buildings of the village.

Google Earth View of Bourton on the Water

Feng Shui Analysis

The river (green arrows) flows from the north west (location) to the south east; the water releases the energy (red arrows) to the village. The village buildings surrounding the lawns act as a barrier to the dispersal of the energy. The energy is therefore confined to this area as their outflow is restricted by 5 small exits (blue numbers) where the energy can leak out. These exits are roads to the village.

Energy is carried by the water in the river flow. This water continually releases this energy but particularly more so at a river bend.

In other words;
The village is getting a continuous supply of energy from the river flowing into the village. This energy is prevented from leaving the confines of the village because of the restrictions of 5 small exits. The net result is a cumulative supply of energy within the village. With energy comes life (the main tenet of Chinese Philosophy). Thereby, the continued prosperity of the village of Bourton on the water.

There are other towns where the river flows through the centre but the energy is not held and allowed to leak out. I will be going through the various towns in the UK and carrying out a Feng Shui analysis.

Dr Michael Oon