Wet day in Hull

This is the view from the Streetlife Transport Museum. As you can see it was a very rainy day. The trawler you can see is the Arctic Corsair which I've shown before here. You can go and look around the boat with free guided tours, details are here.

Lady Chesterfield's Sleigh

Here's the oddest thing I came across in the Transport Museum the other day. It's described as elaborately carved and highly decorative and apparently Lady Chesterfield used it for pleasure driving on her estate. Lady C. in case you are wondering was the daughter of Charles Henry Wilson, 1st Baron Nunburnholme. Now can you see the connection with Hull street life? No, neither can I.

Put Out More Flags

Here's the Railway pub in Cottingham all decked out in Ingerland flags for some football competition that's going on somewhere or other in Europe. 

Stop Press: England lost to Italy (on penalties as usual). Oh well, never mind, I wasn't that interested anyway.

Streetlife

 

What to do on yet another rainy day? Why not visit the Streetlife Transport Museum? I've shown you the outside but until Friday I'd never been in the place. What can I say? It's the sort of place that has immaculately presented exhibits of carriages and modes of transport with re-enactments of street scenes from days gone by. It's all very well done but, maybe it's just me, it felt a little dull and dated. As a child, fifty years or more ago, I saw more or less the same sort of exhibition in York's museum. However the museum has been named the city's best attraction on the travel website tripadvisor.co.uk so I'm probably just out of kilter with the rest of the world. Still if old buses and carriages are your thing you'll find lots to look at here. And one more thing, it's all free.

Don't quite know what a bi-plane has to do with street life, I guess they had to hang it somewhere.

Hessle

This is the view in the other direction from yesterday's photo. This is Hessle's All Saints Church with its impressive spire. Until the bridge was built it was probably the tallest structure round here. As we're on our way to record rainfall for June this picture is clearly not a recent one; no more blue skies and fluffy clouds just rain and more rain. Did I mention a drought back in April?

It's that bridge again

At over 510 feet in height the Humber Bridge does tend to peek into view now and then. At the beginning of April the toll on the bridge was halved to £1.50 and recent reports suggest that traffic on the bridge increased by 20,000 in the first month, which comes as no surprise to anyone really.

Climbing Bear

OK this is one of a pair of bears at the entrance to Albany Street just off Springbank. It's part of a series of animal 'street art' that runs the length of Springbank. And the reason for all this? Well, many years ago, before they built all the houses there was a zoological garden which was lost with the development of Hull. The memory of it lingers in the pub names on Springbank: the Eagle, the Polar Bear and the Botanic not forgetting the gloriously ramshackle Zoological now long gone to make way for the Hull Daily Mail offices, and finally the recently opened (10 or so years ago) New Zoological. 

It would be unbearable to show just one bear so here's the other.

Trees

These are on Beverley Westwood. If you peer closely you can just make out the black mill.

The Warren

These former dockside buildings are the Warren Project where 14 to 25 year olds do the sort of thing 14 to 25 year olds  do. I'm far too old to remember what that might be. There's a website as always here.

Expect Delays

For two hours today and an hour tomorrow parts of the city will grind to a halt as a series of pyjama clad buffoons jog slowly around waving an oversized cigarette lighter. Yes the idiotic farce that is the Olympic torch relay is in town to the delight of the hoopleheads and feeble minded. I wonder how many of those lining the streets realise that this is a direct throwback to the torchlit parades of the 1936 Nazi Olympics designed for the glorification of Hitler's Third Reich. Swifter, Higher, Stronger ... phooey. 

Small copper

When you can't think of anything to say it's probably best to say nothing, so ....

Uneven

The grammar on some signs in mediaeval church yards is uneven too! This Holy Trinity's church yard looking the worse for wear what with all those burials and a large tree buckling the surface.

Costa

I've always understood the name of this place to be a reference to it's prices. I may be wrong since I've never been in and don't drink coffee.

Chimney

This is East Park and in the distance stands the 450 ft Reckitt's chimney. This is now defunct since the plant it served has closed. Can't think why but I've just remembered that Reckitt's bought out the Durex company a while back ...

The other side of 13

Here's a view of the other side of the converted warehouse 13 that I showed you here. The black object in the foreground must remain one of life's mysteries, that is to say, I don't know what it is. 

P & O x 2

Did you know that over a million passengers use the port of Hull every year? No, nor did I. P & O have ferries to Zeebrugge and Rotterdam. The ferry terminal is way over in east Hull so everyone has to go through the city to get where they want to be.
Here's two totally different shots of roughly the same scene.

Arco factory

When, in 1890, the Leyland And Birmingham Rubber Company needed somewhere to distribute industrial asbestos and rubber supplies, they looked at Hull and thought that's the place for us. So was formed the Asbestos and Rubber Company or Arco. Nowadays they make over 22000 products with  a wide range of safety gear and industrial clothing and are a world wide company. You can find out what good guys they are at their very own website here.

Fiat Lux .... now pay for it.

Someone thoughtfully left the door open so I could get a shot down the length of St Mary's in Beverley. Then I stepped inside and took another one. As I did so I noticed a small sign suggesting that photographers should pay a small fee for the privilege of capturing photons. C of E thinks it owns the light in its churches. Seems even light is being monetised! 

Beware of cattle

Beverley Westwood is common land which means that commoners can and do graze their cattle. There's over 400 beefy beast on the Westwood and no fences so you've got to drive carefully.

As this summer has so far failed to load I'm showing you something from a couple of years back. 

Fire Horse

This fine head stands above the doorway to an old fire station on Hall Street off Springbank. A blue plaque informs us that this was a volunteer fire brigade formed to assist the regulars. Since it started in 1887 and disbanded in 1891 I get the feeling there weren't too many volunteers. The chap below is thought to be a captain of the brigade.

Here's one of the doorways.

War Memorial

Cottingham has two war memorials, this one is in St Mary's churchyard. The other one is the memorial gardens I showed you here.

Butcher Row, Beverley

Here's another item on Beverley's Town Trail [ 1 ]. This time it's a representation of an ox carcass in eight feet of two inch thick steel plate. The man responsible for this is Chris Wormald who says he was inspired by Rembrandt's slaughterhouse painting [ 2 ]. It's meant to represent the medieval Beverley Butchers Guild. Needless to say comments in the local paper were less than impressed with this rusting legacy.

Straight to the point

Taken by Margot K Juby

Today the UK is going through a form of torture by sycophancy. The lashings of obsequious nauseating pap that passes for the media of this country are too much to bear. Three whole days of adulatory ass licking and for what? The odious obscenity that is the British monarchy with its attendant snivelling toadies and unctuous lickspittles is celebrating 60 years of 'reigning' over the hoopleheads that line the streets with vile flags and silly grins on stupid faces. Frankly I've had enough, enough I say .... stuff the Jubilee!

Blue Bin

In an effort to cut down on costly landfill taxes the council have for some time been running a recycling scheme. So paper, tin cans and plastics go into the blue bin. Soon, no doubt, they'll want to recycle the dead ...

National Cycle Network

Quite why there is a fish tailed signpost for the national cycle network outside the City Hall I don't know. It was put there in those heady Millenium days when there was plenty of money about. Do you remember money?

Tranquil in Bridlington

Oops I forgot what the date was yesterday! The theme for this month is 'Tranquility'.

Click here to view thumbnails for all the participants who remembered.

We Buy Gold

Lords Feoffes' Clock

Again on King Street, this splendid three faced clock was presented by the Lords Feoffes and Assistants of the Manor of Bridlington. The Lords Feoffes etc are a charitable trust set up in 1636, our trusty friend Wikipedia will tell you more here. About the clock I know nothing and before you ask the pictures weren't taken at the same time or even in the same year!

Pig's Snout

From the online Oxford Dictionary:

"groyne

 Pronunciation: /grɔɪn/

(US groin)

noun

a low wall or sturdy timber barrier built out into the sea from a beach to check erosion and drifting.

Origin:

late 16th century: from dialect groin 'snout', from Old French groign, from late Latin grunium 'pig's snout', from Latin grunnire 'to grunt' "

Learn something new every day ...

Bluebells

On the edge of Beverley Westwood lies an area called Burton Bushes, it's said to be the remains of a primeval forest. It's also a great place to find wild bluebells.

Hull

Again this is a bit of a cheat since it, too, is in Bridlington; indeed on the same street, King Street, as yesterday's offering. This winged lion bearing the triple crown shield of Hull is on the public library.

Hull Cooperative

Just to confuse you this Hull Coop is actually in Bridlington and it's no longer a Cooperative store, it's a dry cleaners I believe. It is in King Street and it was built in 1913. It's a skinny long building that runs along a passage way to Charity Lane. Today no-one would dream of building a retail outlet with all these frills and in marble too.

Private Land

This ominous sign might make you wary of some dangerous horses until you realise it's just these dozy creatures I showed you before here.

Two Humber Quays

 

Some time back I posted about One Humber Quays well right next door is Two Humber Quays. It's another block of offices, meh!

 

No Fishing

I suppose someone somewhere knows why fishing is banned on Bridlington north pier from May through  September. I'm guessing it's an overcautious Council trying to avoid conflict between the throngs (in their dreams) of tourists and the few anglers. Maybe on the pier there might, just, be a case to be made. But at night? And why is fishing banned on both the north and south beaches? Could it be a cunning plan to make anglers hire boats to go fishing? Perish the thought ....

Triple B

This fishy weathervane is on Bridlington's north pier. The triple B is not a credit rating from Standard & Poor, in fact no-one is quite sure what the three Bs stand for in Bridlington's coat of arms. The best I've seen is Bright & Breezy Bridlington. Anyone got any other suggestions?

County Hall, Beverley

Once upon a time the county of Yorkshire (known to some, but not me, as God's own county) was, like Gaul, divided into three parts or ridings. The north, west and east ridings had been there since Adam were a lad, as they say in these parts. Then some clever chap (a southerner) thought this will never do, so, in the name of progress, the ridings were abolished and new counties were manufactured. It came to pass that the monstrosity known as Humberside was brought forth into the world unloved and unwanted and foisted onto the good folk of the east riding and north Lincolnshire. It couldn't last and it didn't last. With a haste that central government has never shown before (that is to say after 22 years) the East Riding of Yorkshire Council was recreated. Throughout all the shenanigans County Hall in Beverley has been the seat of local political and administrative power. Standing red and resolute, it's a conservative looking building with a conservative party in office in saecula saeculorum or so it would appear.

Odd thing

This strange looking thing sits on Bridlington's south pier. I have absolutely no idea what it is or if it still works as I've never seen anyone using it. There are two or three similar devices further along so if anyone knows what they are they could let me know.