A Snicket

 A narrow passage leading from one place to another.

I do like to stroll upon the Prom, Prom, Prom!

In seaside resorts the Promenade is usually a path with views over the sea but not in Bridlington. Here the Promenade is a depressing rundown street set way back from the sea (what sea?) filled with decaying builidings and failing businesses. Charity shops are the only ones making any money down here.

For those of you not familiar with English music hall songs (and who is?) the title of today's post is from the classic "Oh I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside"

You can call me Al

Turnstones

These waders have become accustomed to people, probably due to being fed scraps by the anglers on the pier.

Resident Woodpigeon

Today the clocks have been pushed forward an hour for reasons that I cannot fathom; why are they continuing with this wartime measure? There are strange people who say we should not only have BST (GMT+1) in Winter (!) but have double BST(GMT+2) in Summer(!!). This would, they say, "bring us into line with Europe"! Crazy, since the Europeans also put their clocks forward. It's some kind of vanity that they can have more hours of daylight by fiddling with the clock.
It is also Census day in the UK so I'd better fill out the form lest the interfering prodnoses come round and threaten me with a £1000 fine and a criminal record...
Enough, here's a woodpigeon on my garden wall, now shall I list it in the census...?

1299 and all that

These tacky steel erections you see are the commemoration of the 800th anniversary of Hull as a civic entity. In 1299 Edward I took time off from killing Scots and granted the motley collection of ne'er-do-wells and charlatans that had huddled by the muddy banks of the river Hull a charter to call themselves King's town upon Hull.  

  Some of you may be aware that a royal wedding is planned for sometime this year. Street parties were supposed to be planned by a joyous and grateful nation; however not a single application for a street party has been received by Hull city council. It seems Hull is not really a king's town after all.

"An Eminent and Munificent Merchant...."

It is difficult to imagine the howls and hoots of derison that would greet a statue like this being put up these days. In the 1870s, with the Gothic revival underway, it seemed like a good idea. Anyway, in all his camp glory, here is Sir William de la Pole, first Lord mayor of Kingston upon Hull. W.D.Keyworth was the man to blame. There's a sycophantic inscription beneath that is too ghastly to repeat (you get a taste from the title of this post). 

This hideousness is close by the vile green Voyage statue on the riverside; I tell you this should you wish to avoid coming across either of them by accident.

The Leaning Stylite of Hull

Here as promised sometime ago is the man threatening to leap into the Humber. It's part of a pair of statues linking Hull's fishing history with Iceland; the other statue is in Vik, Iceland. There's more about all this nonsense here. I note that the Icelandic version (called For) is cast in aluminium and is untarnished; the Hull one(named Voyage) is in brass and has turned green, possibly with envy that Iceland still has a fishing industry and Hull doesn't.

Drypool Bridge

Shutters

Spring is sprung, De grass is riz ....

Clearly here's a chap who is not going to let the grass grow under his feet. The council seem to be obsessive about  grass; maybe this is one  area that could be cut back.

The new building in the background is intended to be a hotel for all you eager visitors to this town. Looks just yummy doesn't it?

Rainbow-Friargate

Whitefriargate is the scene of a colourful installation by  Hsiao-Chi Tsai & Kimiya Yoshikawa inspired by "the seaport character of Hull". It's the latest in a series of exhibits using the empty shops and spaces of the street; really it's an effort to get people to visit this end of town. There's a bit more information here.

If you do fancy visiting Hull (and who wouldn't?) then be warned that Whitefriargate is pronounced as something like "Witfregit". For more helpful advice on meeting and greeting the natives I can recommend this site.

What's in a name

I have said before that pubs really shouldn't change their names. This might now be called Original Keys but you can be sure that locals still call  it the Cross Keys. It's on Driffield's Market Place opposite a hotel whose sign is below, I'll let you guess the name.

Spa wars

There has been a Spa in Bridlington in one form or another since 1896. The present Spa was built in 1932 in 52 days to replace a fire damaged building. The Spa closed in 2005 for renovation and reopened three years later after a mere £19.5 million had been spent. The saga of the redevelopment of the area around the Spa is one of delays and incompetence resulting in financial losses to hotels and boarding houses in that part of the resort.The picture was taken in April last year when the works were just beginning. The promenade area was closed all last Summer which must have given tourism a great boost. The area is now open but as far as I can tell it looks pretty much the same as before with some unattractive new features. Whether the costs were worth it remains to be seen. 

 The Spa has a theatre, the finest dance floor in the country and other attractions. It is owned and run by the  county council. 

In this media savvy age there is, of course, a web site and it's here.

The Compleat Angler

I thought fishing from the pier was just a bit of fun; not to be taken too seriously. This piscator clearly has different ideas.

Big wave

There I was taking a few snaps of Bridlington harbour when I see this guy standing up in his little fishing boat waving at me. I tried to wave back but nearly dropped the camera; then he sat down, put on the gas and sped out of the habour. I hope he had a good catch.

New Holland

Two and half miles across the Humber from Hull is New Holland. This was the destination of the Britiish Rail ferry service that ran until 1981 when the Humber Bridge opened; there were connecting trains to take passengers on to London and other places. 

The jetty you can see here allows large ships to berth in midstream; bulk cargoes from and destined for Scandinavia, Europe, the Black Sea and North Africa are handled here. 

In the foreground there appears to be a man about to jump in the river; this is a statue, at least I hope it's a statue. I'll have to investigate this further.

White Cliffs of Flamborough

If the coast of Yorkshire were pictured as a face staring out to the North Sea, Flamborough Head would be the hooked nose with Bridlington the nostrils. To take this image to its ridiculous extreme Hull would be the sore throat that never stops coughing.

Low Tide

While it's low tide it's best to catch up on the beauty sleep; the only disturbance is a heavy footed fool with a camera.

Favourite place in town ...

  

 ...well not mine anyway; but judging by the numbers coming and going surely the fave place for lots of people.  They're lovin' it.

It's theme day on City Daily Photos. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants