Window Pain

I guess an eatery by the name of Roosters Plaice (sic) might not be to everyone's taste and so it came to pass that the business closed several years ago. Since when it's been empty and, as is the style in these parts, it has attracted the attention of those who think creation comes through destruction. I heard of plans for a gym for this building on Princes Avenue but that was some time ago and it's still empty.

152 & 154 Hessle Road

In the late 19^th century a businessman by the name of William Henry Franklin seeing the need for shoes and boots in the boom town of Hull set up the fabulously named Public Benefit Boot and Shoe Company to go with this glorious moniker the company's logo was a horse drawn boot. This building designed by our old friend Alfred Gelder's company in 1896 was one of several stores in Hull in what had become a national chain. For what was effectively just a shoe shop it is a tad grand in the Flemish Renaissance Revival style. I note the ornate decoration above the first floor windows is only on one side which I find rather pleasing, can't be having too much frippery. It is, of course, grade 2 listed. It still sells boots though not for the public benefit needless to say.

I took me a walk down Hessle Road and along the way took a shed load of pictures so the next few days, possibly weeks, will feature this  part of town which was the centre of the fishing community in Hull, unless something better crops up or I get bored.

Been there for years ...

Another one of those "been there for years" shops non è più. This one on Holderness Road. Never mind we can always order a yard brush on line (free delivery!) and get DIY advice from You Tube. I mean, shops, who needs 'em?

Small Decoration, Nothing Fancy

At some point in time whoever owned 61 Whitefriargate took it upon themselves for whatever reason to embellish the rather plain façade with a little decoration. Nothing too extravagant, mind you, nor too noticeable. And so there it is, this tile or moulding, a foot maybe eighteen inches in height, clinging to the wall all by itself alone. It just sits there, in splendid isolation, beneath a burglar alarm of an adult games facility (amusement arcade to you and me), unnoticed by the all crowds that no longer parade down Whitefriagate, slowly crumbling into oblivion. 

The weekend in black and white is here.

Poundland Blues

I've shown this magnificent store before when it was a 99p Store just about to be taken over by the more upmarket Poundland. It seems that take over hit the profits of said Poundland hard (84% decline) and as a consequence this store is now an ex-Poundland (call me a cynic but I suspect that was always the intention; takeover and close down the competition is the way of the business world). And while I'm here and going on (and on) about Poundland the other store I posted about on Ferensway has also been closed and is now to be a gym and sportswear shop (how exciting!). So now the city of culture will have to make do with only one Poundland. Can things get any worse?

Margot took this symphony of blue.

Wacked

Well that didn't last long, did it? A year ago I posted about it opening and now it's gone. Too wacky even for east Hull.

The E.U International

Hard boiled Brexit or the soft runny kind may affect these little supermarkets selling delicacies from the Baltic and other exotic places but I rather think they'll still be here long after we've all forgotten about the EU, Mrs Merkel (Wer sie?) and the single market or whatever. The current stupid little falling out is a mere blip, a historical hiccup. It'll all blow over and the dust will settle and we'll say what was all the fuss about. What kind of madness was that? We''ll get back to doing what we've been doing for two thousand years or more, trading goods and carrying people across the North Sea and the Channel, to and from Europe and beyond. What else can we or Europe do?

The Florist

This was taken in December when it seems there was a market for wreaths of holly and mistletoe and other Yuletide paraphernalia; how long ago that seems now. Hollyhocks is on Princes Avenue and seems to be blooming.

The Takeaway

This one is on Cottingham Road but it could be just about anywhere in town, they're ubiquitous and they all look pretty much the same.

The Barber Shop

It's a barber's shop on Trinity House Lane. OK it's a rock 'n' roll barber's shop. So why Greasy Fingers? Something to do with hair product apparently.

I post this but I haven't been in a barber's for over thirty years and my hair, what there is of it, is over my shoulders like some ageing hippy. 

The corner shop

This shop replaced an older shop about ten years or so ago and has a number of franchises running it. The current lot took over this Summer and immediately put up the price of everything an cut the range of goods on offer. So I don't go there as often ususally to take money out of the ATM now Lloyds have shut the local bank across the road. It's cheaper in Tesco and Sainsburys which I never would have believed. Until I took photo this I hadn't realised quite how many bollards surround the place, security to prevent ram-raiding which seems to be out of fashion these days.

Why did the zebra cross the road?

Zebra had to close earlier this year due to the landlord raising the rent by about 50%.  This is the newly reopened Zebra still on Newland Avenue just across the road, in fact, close to the zebra crossing (yes, I know, it's just too much). Anyhow here's wishing Ann good luck in this relaunch.

Vacated

This month's theme of 'abandoned' could have been designed for Hull. It's like shooting fish in a barrel (did anybody ever do that?). Staples had been in this store on Ferensway for donkeys years, the place was always empty and almost never had what I needed and if it did it was way too expensive. Anyhow Staples has moved to a slightly smaller, slightly more out-of-town site on Clough Road (along with the Police, the Fire Brigade and old Uncle Tom Cobley and all ...). This building joins on to the empty computer store I posted a while back making a seriously large vacant ex-retailing space in the centre of town. Maybe it can be filled with 'culture' of some sort for next year's bean feast...

Wearing white for Hallowe'en

Endyke Lane Dove House charity shop is gearing itself up for Hallowe'en with this appealing twosome.

Margot took this with her phone as we'd left the camera at home on the grounds that "there's nothing to photograph on Endyke Lane". Hmmmph

That Fryday Feeling

It's Happy Laughing Friday, as my old dad used to say, the start of the weekend. There's some kind of festival thing going on in town so I might pop out and see what's what tomorrow if it doesn't rain ...

Res per industriam prosperae ... don't make me laugh

To no-one's great surprise BHS is to close after years of having money syphoned out of the company by its previous two owners. So there's yet another empty store in the heart of town... looking good for the you know what next year. Res per industriam prosperae is the ironic motto running across the store's impressive mural.

Moving upmarket

Last weekend the 99p Store became a Poundland; clearly going for the more discerning customer.

Yet Another Charity Shop

Charity shop, Hallgate, Cottingham

The long running slow-down in economic activity has been a boom time for charity shops, they were the fastest growing retail sector last year and there's over 9,600 of them throughout the land or so I've read. They're in every town and on every high street. In Cottingham there are seven that I know of, that's more than one in ten shops devoted to raising funds for some cause or other. Now a connoisseur of these places would say that the slightly seedier the ambience the better the bargains to be had and it's a real bad sign when the professionals move in and a Mary Portas style makeover happens. This means higher prices, less stock and a reduction in customers. This one has opened recently for some local charity and has a nice mix of books, bric-a-brac and clothing. All very pleasantly and unprofessionally arranged to appeal to the browsing passer-by on a gloomy afternoon.

'Shop window' is the City Daily Photo's theme for the first day of the last month of the year. See what goodies are on display here.

Red Tops

Marks and Sparks'  "The Art of Christmas"! pshaw!

The Store

This imaginatively named emporium and former church is on the Promenade, Bridlington.

Somehow the week seems to have escaped me and it's the weekend again which means there'll be monochrome magic over at the Weekend in Black & White.