At the end of the 18th century Hull was, to use a recent newspaper headline, "one of the UK's fastest emerging cities". A savvy local tobacco merchant, Richard Baker, bought up land to the north of the new dock and two new streets were built Albion Street and Baker Street. The eastern end of Baker Street is now in a pretty poor state and due for demolition and the erection of apartments to join up with a particularly bland block of living units (but don't hold your breath). The other end is in a much better state and being looked after. There used to be a public convenience at the western end but though the building is still standing it is permanently closed; if you want to pee in the city of culture you must seek relief elsewhere.
Wednesday, 16 April 2014
Tuesday, 15 April 2014
Monday, 14 April 2014
I think this sign means keep out ...
... it's also the sign I ignored to take the day before yesterday's picture. How does that old song go? ... ah yes:
"As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me."
The precious patch of land protected by this fine sign is Alexandria Wharf off High Street near, in fact behind, Blaydes House. It's just a patch of cleared land, (once a riverside warehouse, I believe, that burned down some time back, it wasn't me, guv, honest) in the centre of the city so unsurprisingly it's up for sale with permission to build 33 apartments. Just as well I nipped in before the builders took over; Hull is just a frenzy of building activity at the moment. OK that last part of that sentence may not be exactly true.
Sunday, 13 April 2014
Open Season
Seen here reflected in the Transport Museum's window the Arctic Corsair, Hull’s last sidewinder trawler, is open to visitors from today. The museum runs guided tours round so if you're interested it's probably best to book a tour (here), also with the present parlous state of the Council's finances who knows how long this feature will be available. Did I mention it was free? Yeah, I know, why don't they charge?
The weekend reflections are here.
Saturday, 12 April 2014
Shotwell Tower
Close by Drypool Bridge this place produces shotgun cartridges for the entertaining business of slaughtering birds specially reared to be 'sport' for gun toters with rather too much money than sense. The tower is so that molten lead can be sprayed into water from a height so producing lead pellets to further pollute the land. Do I seem a tad down on this place? Well tough.
The Weekend in Black and White is right .here
Friday, 11 April 2014
Thursday, 10 April 2014
Who will stop me?
“Do you mean to tell me that you're thinking seriously of building that way, when and if you are an architect?"
"Yes."
"My dear fellow, who will let you?"
"That's not the point. The point is, who will stop me?”
― Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead
Here, at the junction of Ferensway and Freetown Way, is a fitting testament to the supremacy of man, the ferro-concrete box.
Wednesday, 9 April 2014
Fresh Fish Daily
Here's a little mysterious shop. It's close to the station on Quay Road and never, ever seems to be open yet there's a fresh display of adverts in the window whenever I see it and that window over the door opens wider with the passing years. Something fishy about this....
Tuesday, 8 April 2014
Street Life
I mentioned a long time ago how Bridlington tries to stop gulls nesting on buildings. They put netting and spikes and so on with limited success. But if you're going to leave your Christmas decorations up all year you're just asking for trouble as this pair of Kittiwakes think it's a very des res.
Monday, 7 April 2014
Faded Glory
There's a lot of what is politely called 'faded glory' abounding in Bridlington. Here, for example, is a classic seaside hotel, five floors including basement bar and so on and nobody wants it, at least not at the offering price. So here it sits, with expired planning permission for conversion to flats, quietly falling apart until the next auction. I posted about this block some three years ago; very little has changed since then apart from the new coffee bar and even that could still do with a splash of paint on the upper reaches.
Sunday, 6 April 2014
A little splash of colour
I've just realised that the other day when I said they were making ready for the tourists to pour in that in fact they were repairing damage done by last year's tidal surge that flooded Bridlington especially around the harbour. The water came over the harbour wall and into the little shops and cafes that line the harbour.
So to today's post which is the Bayside funfair, which, at the risk is of appearing to kick someone when they're down is hardly the most fun place on the planet. I know it's pre-season but it seems that a quite a few of the rides that were there are no longer; the water slide, for example, torn down for health and safety reasons so I've heard. Well maybe it was just the dull weather and things will brighten up ...
Saturday, 5 April 2014
Big Guns
Nowadays Bridlington will welcome any visitor who cares to call but at one time there was felt a need to keep out certain foreign invaders, the French, the Dutch, the Spanish just about everybody at one time or another even the Americans. The top gun, on the North pier, was found during excavations and restored in the 1977, the lower one was found by a passing gull who set up home there.
The Weekend in Black and White is here.
Friday, 4 April 2014
Making Ready
On what was possibly the greyest and dullest day ever known I took myself off to the seaside for an afternoon in Bridlington. The place was somewhat rundown and not quite awake, with lots of little painting jobs being carried out and pavements being power hosed by the Council in readiness for the forthcoming influx of tourists. No amount of painting however will cover up the demolition heap of what was once a broken down leisure centre and what will be a brand new £20 million (there must be money in the East Riding!) pleasure palace.
Thursday, 3 April 2014
Church's North Door
Turning 180 degrees from yesterday's post and moving no more than a few feet here's Holy Trinity's north door. I'd say this was a nice piece of gothic albeit in brick with dressed stone. English Heritage however has it as a "restored north doorway with moulded head and triple filleted shafts" so now you know. The two carved head are looking a bit distressed which considering they've possibly been hanging around there for nigh on six hundred years is hardly surprising.
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
North Church Side
After yesterday's little diversion where were we? Oh yes, outside a tattoo parlour on North Church Side. Well here's broader street view. The building with the tower houses a boxing club and beyond that there's the indoor market or what's left of it. This little street leads on to Posterngate near that white building in the distance.
Here's the entrance to the boxing club which seems to be wanting to tell us something ...
Yes that is snow in the picture; it was taken last March.
Tuesday, 1 April 2014
From espaliers to Brendan Behan in one easy step
No big building these days comes without at least some landscaping, few roses here, a flower bed there, an act of propitiation for the dreadful architecture that usually lurks behind. Well Humberside Police HQ on Clough Road is no exception and this expensive lump comes with a row of espaliers. I don't know if they're apple trees and plod is setting up an orchard but they are an interesting development.
If you think that, because of the date, this is a joke then you might be right or you could check out the City Daily Photos theme day where they're fixated on triangles for some reason. I must admit that when I heard that triangles were to be the theme my mind instantly thought of this. Sláinte!
Monday, 31 March 2014
Cruithni
In the shadow of Holy Trinity this tattoo shop's sign intrigued me. Cruithni? Who or where or what is a cruithni. A short visit to our mutual friend Mr Google reveals that the Cruithni were a bronze age bunch of people living in Ulster about 700BC. Quite what that has to do with this place I don't know, maybe they just liked the sound of it. They have a website and it's here. Also while I'm here I may as well point out that this building or rather a building on this site was the origin of the Smith & Nephew health products company.
Sunday, 30 March 2014
Spring forward once again
Driffield's Millennium Clock |
So we lurch bleary eyed into Bloody Stupid Time so that we can enjoy 'extra' daylight in the evenings or in the mornings I forget which. Well whoopee doo! All across Europe and other places clocks are being taken down and fiddled with in this twice yearly farce. In these days of internets and instant communications why do we need to go through this rigamarole, it's just plain bonkers. If people want to get up with the sun no-body is stopping them setting their alarms early, but no, we all have to suffer this tosh. Just set the clocks to GMT or whatever is suitable locally and leave it alone. Grrrr
Saturday, 29 March 2014
Blackthorn Winter
Friday, 28 March 2014
Still awaiting repair
Victoria Pier is still undergoing repairs three months after the damage caused by a massive tidal surge. Clearly no urgency here and no sign of anyone actually doing anything either.
The Weekend in Black and White is here.
Thursday, 27 March 2014
Market Place
Here the tubs of Spring flowers bring a little splash of colour to the near deserted Market Place. If you're wondering where the market is it left decades ago.
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
Hands Off Hands On!
I have to admit to not really being a museum sort of person. Ever since I was dragged round museums as a child I've harboured the thought that they really are as dead as the exhibits. Still some like to take their children along for something 'educational' and this little place, the Hands On museum near Holy Trinity Church, which I personally found dull as a grey day, was just the ticket for inquisitive little minds to potter about in. Especially since those little minds' little hands could actually get to handle the exhibits. You'll notice that I used the past tense there and that's because, and you may like to sit down at this point, from April the Council of this glorious City of Culture is closing this museum to public admissions. Yes, in future only booked groups, such as schools, will be admitted.
Notice of the closure only emerged after staff were consulted about cuts to opening hours to save money. At least the Council were ashamed and deny trying to sneak this past everyone on the sly (I never believe anything until it has been officially denied). When the news broke about a week ago there was outrage and anger. So there's now a Facebook group to get this decision reversed and a petition with over 1100 signatures. We shall see how the Council responds.
Anyhow there's me rattling on and not mentioning that this building was the old Hull Grammar School built in 1583 or thereabouts and alma mater to Andrew Marvell, William Wilberforce and countless other forgotten scholars.
Tuesday, 25 March 2014
Pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?
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Orchard Park from Hull Road, Cottingham |
A £310 million investment in Hull may not be a pot of gold but it will bring 1000 jobs to the city and a sigh of relief all round. What is this crazed loon talking about, I hear you ask. Siemens have announced that, after months of humming and hahing, Hull is the place they want to build a wind turbine factory. A thousand jobs may sound a lot but the city needs many thousands more and possibly this will bring in more skilled high pay positions; we shall see. There's also the massive skills shortage in the city so quite a few of these jobs may go to outsiders unless training is improved. Still mustn't grumble ...not even as every single local politician and placemen seem to be crawling out from under the woodwork to claim the glory for landing this contract.
Monday, 24 March 2014
Full of hidden surprises
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Posterngate |
The 'Hull can do no wrong' brigade were crowing again over the weekend after the Sunday Times put Hull in a list of the sixty or so best places to live in Britain. After the usual City of Culture guff and a comparison of house prices (relatively low, since you ask, but rising fast) and inventing a popular road called "The Avenue" (??? typical bad reporting but then standards have been dropping for years) it then, I think, rather damned with faint praise by saying the reason it's great is that it's full of hidden surprises.... well yes it is and not all of them pleasant.
Sunday, 23 March 2014
Is this land made for you and me?
Just down my street a sign has gone up for the sale of 7.5 acres of what is essentially flood plain scrub land. Given that there is claimed to be a shortage of housing in this country I expect someone will buy this and plan to cram as many dwellings as possible onto it (no doubt all made of ticky-tacky). Watch out for planning objections and inquiries (not to mention Councillors mouthing vacuous sweet nothings) and in two or three years another hundred or so houses.
Speaking of land or in this case the lack of it, Hull Council is setting up an inquiry into taking over the neighbouring villages Cottingham, Anlaby, Hessle and so on from the East Riding. It claims people are living in these villages but using the facilities (???) of the city without paying anything for them. Hull, it is claimed, is being hemmed in and should be allowed to become much, much bigger spreading to Beverley according to one Hull Councillor. Given the track record of Hull Council in running what is in effect an overgrown town you can imagine the disdain with which this proposed expansion is being greeted in the villages concerned. This isn't the first time this quest for lebensraum has been put forward, back in the 1990's Hull was denied it and will no hopefully fail again.
Saturday, 22 March 2014
Millennium Bridge
There seems to have been a bit of a bridge building craze at the fag of the last century with the result that there are lots of Millennium Bridges spanning rivers up and down the country. Some like the Gateshead Bridge have a stunning original design whilst another suffered well known design failings. Here in Hull we got a simple lift up bridge with a bright yellow counterbalance. I read in a recent article that looking at the bridge one could almost imagine being in Copenhagen. I don't know whether that's good thing or not.
The Weekend Reflections are here.
Friday, 21 March 2014
Sporty little number
I'm not one for motor cars, as regular readers will know. I don't drive, never have and I've never been one for drooling over sports car and so on. I did, however, admire this over decorated Subaru parked up on Fairfax Avenue. It's totally out of place in this suburban environment, a bit like a penguin in an aquarium.
The weekend in Black and White is here.
Thursday, 20 March 2014
That was the Winter that wasn't
So a season with no snow, no frosts to speak of, a bit of rain and mild ...meh! I don't call that Winter. Still I'll have saved on the old gas bills and so forth. So from 16.57 GMT it's officially Spring (I had to look that up) and it'll probably snow, did last year.
Wednesday, 19 March 2014
It's a Hull thing 2
Without going into the whys and wherefores of it all Hull has got two Rugby League teams, Hull Kingston Rovers (the Robins) out in the eastern boondocks and Hull FC (the Airlie Birds) in the slightly tamer west. There's a fierce, friendly, for the most part, rivalry to be top dog in this one horse town. On Savile Street however the two are united in trade as they try to take even more from the poor saps who support them. As an incomer I maintain a position of bored neutrality except to note that Rovers are having a clearance sale...
Tuesday, 18 March 2014
Carmelite House
On Posterngate Carmelite House was built in 1826 as an almshouse for twenty-three seamen and wives. It was named after the Carmelite order of monks who used to have a monastery or some such around here before being suppressed when religion got nationalised in the 16th century. Carmelites were also known as white friars hence Whitefriargate. The building was converted into offices in the 1950's.
After I posted the above I came across the following from Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary.
CARMELITE, n. A mendicant friar of the order of Mount Carmel.
As Death was a-riding out one day,
Across Mount Camel he took his way,
Where he met a mendicant monk,
Some three or four quarters drunk,
With a holy leer and a pious grin,
Ragged and fat and as saucy as sin,
Who held out his hands and cried:
"Give, give in Charity's name, I pray.
Give in the name of the Church. O give,
Give that her holy sons may live!"
And Death replied,
Smiling long and wide:
"I'll give, holy father, I'll give thee—a ride."
With a rattle and bang
Of his bones, he sprang
From his famous Pale Horse, with his spear;
By the neck and the foot
Seized the fellow, and put
Him astride with his face to the rear.
The Monarch laughed loud with a sound that fell
Like clods on the coffin's sounding shell:
"Ho, ho! A beggar on horseback, they say,
Will ride to the devil!"—and thump
Fell the flat of his dart on the rump
Of the charger, which galloped away.
Faster and faster and faster it flew,
Till the rocks and the flocks and the trees that grew
By the road were dim and blended and blue
To the wild, wild eyes
Of the rider—in size
Resembling a couple of blackberry pies.
Death laughed again, as a tomb might laugh
At a burial service spoiled,
And the mourners' intentions foiled
By the body erecting
Its head and objecting
To further proceedings in its behalf.
Many a year and many a day
Have passed since these events away.
The monk has long been a dusty corse,
And Death has never recovered his horse.
For the friar got hold of its tail,
And steered it within the pale
Of the monastery gray,
Where the beast was stabled and fed
With barley and oil and bread
Till fatter it grew than the fattest friar,
And so in due course was appointed Prior.
Monday, 17 March 2014
Rotten Apple
How time flies when nothing is happening. Three years ago I posted about this fine piece of urban dereliction and it's still there pretty much as it was then only minus a window that fell out and smashed into the bus stop. Finally the Council has gathered its petticoats up and in high dudgeon declared that it must be fixed or else, Ã la Violet-Elizabeth Bott, it'll scream and scream and knock it down itself. Can't see the owners wasting money on this so this show should be worth watching especially with all this City of Culture on the horizon they'll be wanting to tidy the place up a bit.
Sunday, 16 March 2014
Saturday, 15 March 2014
Witham & I
Yesterday I had an appointment on Witham otherwise I would not normally spend any time there at all. I have mentioned before that it's a bleak and dismal space occupied mainly by car sales, small auto related businesses and various night time attractions. I don't think anybody actually lives on this street. There is an isolated pub that has somehow survived Hitler and the demolition crazies. In this desolate landscape there's a big Council office which was where I was bound.
Friday, 14 March 2014
Thursday, 13 March 2014
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