Old Mill

Close by the swing bridge I showed yesterday  is the British Extraction company mill. It was built in 1919 to grind linseed and rape seed and so on to extract oil. The seed was delivered by boat and stored in the large silos to the rear. As you can see it's no longer in use, in fact it has stood idle for over forty years! There was a move to demolish it in the 1990s but  now it has Grade 2 listing so it just sits there watching the river flow. It was so well built it won't fall down.

Like the bridge this building attracts the attentions of photographers who sneak in and explore it.   You can see some of their  images here and here. Climbing up to the roof is definitely a young person's game.

Swing Bridge

This is the Wilmington bridge originally built to carry the railway across the river but now it's just for pedestrians and cyclists, oh and photographers. It was opened in 1907 and the last train crossed in 1968. It still works as a swing bridge to allow river traffic to pass though I have to admit I've never seen it in action as it were.

Peeling Paint

No visit to Bankside would be complete without an image of the Reckitt chimney. It is simply huge (450 ft) and dominates the whole area but it,  like much of the area, is now standing idle and slowly decaying.

The chimney was used to remove sulphur dioxide produced in the making of ultramarine which has many uses not least in paint manufacture some of which could be applied to this wall. There's more, much more, on the history of this site and the production of this useful product  here, this link was written when the plant was still operational, it closed in 2007.

New Brick Wall on Bankside

I took me a walk down Bankside the other day. Bankside is the real badlands of Hull, a once industrial riverside area that is now a rat run for taxis and lorries. There's plenty of dereliction but still some industry  and small businesses hanging on. I passed some bricklayers who were building this nice new wall I thought their work should be recorded. They probably thought I was mad ... more from the badlands over the next few days.

Selective Austerity

Behold the replacement for Queen's Gardens police station. In a farce that could have come from the pages of Sjöwall and Wahlöö  the new divisional headquarters and custody suite is rising from the once poisonous soils of Clough Road. You've got to admit they've treated themselves well on the public purse, the top brass will be able to settle in nicely here and with 50 cells there's more than twice the capacity to lock up the naughty scalliwags. There'll be artwork costing £25,000; that's only fitting for a building that cost £32 million upfront but after interest and other charges comes in at an eyewatering £60 million! Austerity clearly is very selective .... 

Queen's Gardens Police Station

Opened in 1957 Queen's Gardens nick is now deemed to be unfit for purpose and will close in a year or so. In this "age of austerity" frontline policing will be cut by 21% and £30 million taken off the budget by 2015/6 so it remains to be seen whether the force left after all this will itself be 'fit for purpose'. More on Humberside Police follies tomorrow ....

The Haworth Arms

One the best pubs in Hull,  erm probably. This is the Haworth at the junction of Beverley Road and Cottingham Road. Being close to the University it's the haunt of students as well as many  locals. It's a large place and holds many events along with the usual goings on to be found in pubs. A recent refurbishment was completed in February to restore the old wooden pannelling and bar fittings. 

Now again a word of warning, it looks old but it ain't. It's yet another glorious mock-Tudor construction of the late 1920's and 30's (seems they built nothing but this style in those years!). Indeed it didn't use to be such a big building at all, just a dowdy little pub on the corner as this old photo shows. My how it's grown!

It has a website these days and you'll find that here.

Today's Post

River Hull

Ah the bucolic charms of the river Hull as it winds its way past storage tanks and the Mauri factory. Man and nature in harmony ...

Clough Road Gasometer

Taken by Margot K Juby

Just to the west of the Stoneferry Bridge, on Clough Road, stands this gasometer. It's one of a pair that remain on the site of the old gasworks. The land surrounding these old works was until recently contaminated with all sorts of nasties. A novel biological approach was used to clean up the place. The soil was dug up and placed in a large shed and treated with bacteria, so called bioremediation. The whole process took about two years and now a new police station is being built on the site.
A clough is a sluice used in returning water to a channel after depositing its sediment on the flooded land, in case you were wondering.

Stoneferry Bridge

There's been a crossing at Stoneferry for centuries but the big business guys in Beverley prevented a bridge being built until 1905. They were worried about it blocking the navigation up the river to Beverley. That old bridge simply couldn't cope with the traffic volumes and so it was replaced in 1991 with this dual bascule bridge. It can lift to allow river traffic but there is very little of that nowadays.

Lord & Midgley

Taken by Margot K Juby

This scrap yard, or, more properly, recycling plant is by the banks of the river Hull at the end of Reservoir Road. The L & M  yard here  is 7 acres in size and processes 72,000 tonnes of scrap a year and , in their words, they 'depollute' over 3,000 cars a year. L & M have a website here should you want to deal in scrap.

The reservoir in the road's name was an 1840's scheme to draw water from the river Hull to supply the city.  It had to be drawn at low tide so as not to be too brackish even so it was murky and foul tasting and contaminated. The city's water now comes mainly from artesian springs to the west of the city at Spring Head and we're all the healthier for that development.

Taken by Margot K Juby

Latest theme

Round the corner from yesterday's tat shop is the Fishbowl, a public house so I'm told. Over the past ten or so years this 'pub' has had three identities that I can recall, first it was called Hockney's then after that cosed it reopened as Aussie Beach all green and yellow and selling Foster's. Then it shut and magically reopened as the Fishbowl I shudder to think what they're selling now. 

Ye Olde Tat Shop

Tucked away on Alexandra Road is this second hand/junk shop. It sells just what it says on the sign. These places have an undeserved reputation for selling stolen goods. I was there once when a couple of likely lads tried to off-load bikes that were clearly out of their pay league shall we say. The owner mentioned he'd had the police round just the day before and demanded identification from this pair which, of course, they couldn't provide, that is until the least bright of the pair offered his prison release form as ID. I don't think they made a deal somehow. 

Bikes and Trikes

As promised yesterday a selection of the motorcycles on show at Cottingham day. Now I know even less about these things than I do about cars so I'll leave you to look at them without further comment.

If you are a Facebook user I've posted an album photos of Cottingham Day on the Hull and Hereabouts page here.

Cars

One of the mainstays of Cottingham Day is the display of old ( I won't say vintage ) cars. Here are a few of those on show. I don't know much about cars, however I do recognise the Ford Consul as my dad had one back in the early, very early sixties, it was red as I recall. If you're into two-wheeled vehicles I have motorcycles lined up for tomorrow.

Ain't No Cure for the Summertime Blues ...

The parish council website informs us that this year's Cottingham Day will have a distinct 1950's feel. So on stage we have what is described as a jive band complete with Elvis. Well, actually they were better than Elvis, but then that wouldn't take much. They went through a whole bunch of fifties and early sixties stuff, I left when they attempted Summer Holiday, the human body can only take so much pain.

I put my little Fuji to video mode and came up with a short video.

Playing with fire

It's that time of year again, when the main streets are closed and people come from all around for the thrills and spills of Cottingham Day. Here a unicylcing juggler entertains. More tomorrow.

The Holderness

Next door to yesterday's offering is the Holderness, a public house. It's a fairly old building appearing on maps going back to 1830s. However it is most certainly not a Tudor building as the external appearance might suggest. Apparently there was a fashion to decorate pubs in this mock-Tudor style in the early years of the last century (see also the Rose and Crown, Beverley).

Holderness, in case you were wondering, is the name given to an area of east Yorkshire running roughly from the river Hull to the North Sea. Click here and let Wikipedia tell you more. 

Hull's Angel

Came across this odd little figure above a workshop doorway on Dansom Lane. The windows suggest that the building may have had a religious function but I can find no information about it.

Update A friend has suggested that this building was once a Foreign & British school or to give it its full title British and Foreign School Society for the Education of the Labouring and Manufacturing Classes of Society of Every Religious Persuasion built sometime in the early 1800s. [ 1 ]

Underneath the arches

Tucked away behind the Mount Pleasant shops is an odd assortment of small businesses. A monumental mason, a scuba diving centre, a motorcycle and scooter dealer and last but not least a computer shop. The latter, Peckhams computers, is where I bought my reconditioned machine and I'd recommend anyone wanting a cheap machine to try here.

Holdy Road Blues

A recent article in the local paper suggested that the western end of Holderness Road needs some TLC.  I think it will take more than a bit of sprucing up and redecorating to brighten up this old road. And it's not as if it's a new problem. This road looks pretty much like it did when I first saw it nearly 30 years ago. It's always been a run down mix of used motor sales, greasy spoons and dodgy enterprises and night clubs you really wouldn't want to go to. Even when times were good they were never that good round these parts; the recession didn't make much difference to this area as it was never in growth to begin with, it simply speeded up the decline.

Mount Pleasant Retail Park

Something about the name Mount Pleasant conjures  up a vision of a gentle incline with trees and a bucolic ambience. In Hull, however, Mount Pleasant is a nasty cut through connecting the infamously horrible Hedon Road with the equally nasty Stoneferry. It is neither a mount nor pleasant. At the point where it crosses Holderness Road this architectural monstrosity has sprung up. As it is served by two main roads there's a large car park and it's almost always busy. These stores should be contrasted with the old shops I posted the other day which are just on the other side of Holderness Road and due to be replaced with the twin of this place.

Swallows

One swallow does not make a Summer and neither , it seems, do four or five. Rain totals show it's been the wettest second quarter on record and quite possibly the wettest June ever; although it's not been too bad in Hull other places have had flooding and even tornadoes! 

As it's the first of the month it's theme day for City Daily Photo with 'chimneys' as the chosen theme. Click here to see other participants. If that link doesn't work try here or the Facebook group here.

The Wind Mill Hotel, Witham

Witham is a road that runs from the river to Holderness Road. I suppose at one time it was a prosperous place but now it's totally depressing. The main business apart from the large Council offices seems to be the used car trade with its attendant 'Arthur Daley' dealerships. Stuck on the end of Witham and looking a bit the worse for wear is the Wind Mill Hotel. It was built towards the end of 19th century as was much of this area. Its chief attraction is the fine tile work the surrounds the ground floor walls. It's a Grade 2 listed building and I have read that it's the best night out in Hull for the over 35s which I find difficult to credit.

Books and Baths

Another stitch up (maybe I should get a really wide angle lens). This time we have on the right the old James Reckitt library now closed and moved to new buildings further up the road. On the left the East Hull Pools which boasts heated swimming pools, the very height of decadence. Both were built towards the latter end of the 19th century and stand in splendid isolation on Holderness Road.

Ghosts on Holderness Road

I've stitched three shots together here with the result of strange ghosts in the final image. This is the western end of Holderness Road and it's in a pretty dire state. That whole row is due for either demolition or redevelopment of some sort (see link here). The only shop still trading is a pawnbrokers cum body piercing shop; it's that kind of area. In the dim distance is the building I showed you here.