A green thought in a green shade

As I'm sitting here it's been raining more or less continuously for a day with another day's worth waiting to come in off the North Sea. Still if it didn't rain ever this place would soon disappear. The land around Driffield is pretty leaky with lots of springs where the rain that's percolated through the chalky Yorkshire Wolds spurts out. The Keld (from the Scandinavian/Viking for spring) is one such water hole that used to be part of a water powered mill. The whole area is now protected as part of the Millennium Greens project and is well worth searching out (it's not well sign posted).

Driffield Beck

"Lazing on a sunny afternoon ... "

A few years ago Charley abandoned his nice home and caring 'owners' two streets down to come and live in our garden and how could we refuse him? He's an expert ratter and catcher of mice but is prone to act the idiot at times hence his usual name of  Shanny (which means "daft as a brush" in Norfolk but check out the Urban dictionary definition here!).

Brunswick Avenue

Brunswick Avenue runs off Beverley Road and was built around 1880-1890 as Hull sprawled outwards. It was once a tree lined avenue with elm trees every ten or twelve feet. When I used to live round here about the mid 1980's there were just a dozen or so left, what demolition and rebuilding hadn't destroyed Dutch Elm disease was killing off one by one until now there are just four left outside the PDSA building on the left. 

I never really liked living in this place. The area around here is almost entirely council housing with attendant social (should that be anti-social?) problems and though an old neighbour who I met told me it was quiet and peaceful she added "You must never leave your windows open for fear of burglars sneaking in". The yellow skip disappearing into the distance is carrying off tons of fly-tipped rubbish dumped into a garden on the right that I have just had the pleasure of removing. Why, I ask myself, lift sofas and armchairs over a five foot fence when you could just leave them at the back with no trouble?

After a bit of searching around I found a drawing of Brunswick Avenue by Frederick Smith dated 1888, thanks to Hull City Museums.

Jacaranda

Taken by Margot K Juby

OK try not laugh. This is the only jacaranda tree I've seen in this country and it's a very straggly pale specimen. Since the jacaranda is really at home in tropical and sub-tropical regions of central America and the Caribbean I don't think it's a wonder it grows at all in the temperate, at times nithering, north of England. (but see here for what these beauties can do when they really get going) It's also been protected during the renovation of the Cleminson Hall site.

View from the boundary

As the snows and frosts of Winter fade to a distant memory it becomes time to dust down the old willow bat, rub in the linseed oil, whiten the pads, don the white flannels and peaked cap and stride out to face the bowling. Hah! as if! Even so many do play up and play the game, there are many local cricket leagues which are fiercely competitive especially in Yorkshire which likes to think itself home to the best (it's God's own county don't you know?). Here's Driffield's neat little ground where the groundsman had just finished preparing for a match, it's great ritual of cutting and rolling the pitch till it's just right, painting the creases and so on. I hope they managed to finish before the evening thunder storm rolled in and rain stopped play.

"He's fallen in da water ..."

Many years ago on the radio the Goon Show had a catch phrase or running joke, I suppose you might call it, where someone (little Jim?) would say (in a strange voice) "he's fallen in da water". This would for some reason have the audience in paroxysms of laughter. Ah those were the days, long ago, when there was probably some water to fall into at this point on the river, nowadays you'll most likely get a concussion from the mud and that's no joke.

Willow pattern

Bright sunshine is all well and good but to my mind a bit of shade is always welcome and Hull could do with more trees like these delightful mature willows on Paragon Street.

A Definite Maybe

The good ship (sorry, boat) Maybe in Hull's marina.

"There is no hurry ...

...We shall get there someday."

After nigh on six months the pier still awaits repair. Perhaps it could become an art installation, one of the hidden surprises of Hull. Just don't fall in, it's a long way down.

On the map

A cartographer's delight parked up by the Minerva.

Umber without number

Umbers by the Humber, ah well. This is yet another part of the seemingly endless fish trail that winds round the town and pops up when you least expect it. This is part of a small shoal carved into the planks of Victoria Pier. You may know umbers as grayling, but "grayling by the Humber" doesn't quite do it, does it?

The Weekend in Black & White goes on here.

For those interested in football Hull City lost (2-3)  to Arsenal in the FA Cup yesterday.

"Shocked to see the state of the city of Hull ..."

I've posted before about the old fruit market area around Humber Street. Nearby there's a place called Hull Art Lab which was once a potato merchant's building. Usually it's locked up but the other day the doors were open ( I suspect malfeasance). So I peeped through the gap to see what's what. Basically it's empty, as in deserted , with just these scribblings decorating the place. The writing on the floor "I was even more shocked to see the state of Hull, fires were burning everywhere" is, believe it or not, a quote from some testimony given to the BBC's WW2 People's War archive! 

I've just found out it's been closed since November 2006 and presumably standing empty for eight years. Anyhow the place is now open to the elements and naughty folks so I don't know what will become of it.

Postscript: I am reliably informed that this building, or rather the space it occupies, will be part of the centre for innovative digital companies (C4DI) that I mentioned last October (here).

Final countdown

I thought there would have been more of this football related nonsense about town given that the local club have reached the FA cup final for the first time. There are surprisingly few displays of flags and so on. Anyhow there were two or three touts trying their luck in town yesterday with very few takers. They've got scarves, tee shirts and flags, however, the truly dedicated aficionado can buy a toilet seat decorated in team colors with the face of the manager on the lid, I kid you not. I hear you ask who are the opposition in this contest? Some small time club by the name of Arsenal. Kickoff's 5pm tomorrow,  it'll be a walkover ...

Fish Gate

This piscatorial portal is to be found on Fish Street, of course.

Elephant & Castle

The Elephant and Castle on Holderness Road seems to have been for sale for years now. Anyhow it's boarded up, buddleia has taken over the window box and the paint is peeling off. Mind you it's not alone, there's many an empty boarded up shop on this stretch. I note the price has been reduced, even so, I doubt it'll be selling pints any time soon. The vogue nowadays seems to be to convert these sort of buildings into flats.

Stuart's Clock

Here's the brand new park clock in East Park. The money needed to erect it, some £20,000, was raised by one of the parks longest serving rangers, Stuart McDonald. It took him four years to raise the money by organizing games for the children who visited the park, Crazy golf, Tombolas, collections and Xmas events. Others have noticed there is no plaque to tell of his hard work and have suggested it be known as Stuart's Clock, a suggestion I'm all too happy to go along with. Well done to him and all who helped.

Westwood Road

I mentioned in passing many months ago that Westwood Road, Beverley had the most expensive houses in this area. Personally I can't see the attraction of these Victorian terraced mansions nor even the grand villas opposite (that's not to say I wouldn't take one if offered). I suppose once you've made your pile you must find a suitable place to flaunt it.

Clear directions

Clough Road car wash

Flowers

Along the riverside it's an all too common sight to see these little floral tributes to those who died at sea and also, as  has just been pointed out to me, those whose ashes are scattered on the Humber.

Red, White and Blue

A rather tattered old rag hanging over the bankrupt Blockbuster video store on Newland Avenue. The news today that GDP will finally creep back 2008 levels has hardly been met with dancing in the street but maybe if the local football team win the FA cup in week's time there may be some small celebration.

The weekend in black and white is here

Green Bricks

Long, long ago this was known as the Humber Dock Tavern though I suspect that even then it was called the Green Bricks. Until a few yew years ago it was quite a small place then it grew and grew so that it now stretches half way down the street. I've shown this place before but I reckon it's worth another look.

River Traffic

Swinderby

You can go weeks without seeing anything moving on the old river then you get two barges together. Maybe they like to travel in pairs ...

Humber Princess

Though the archway and beyond

This is the archway entrance to the old Trinity House school that has now moved to bigger premises across town.

Now then, this being the well ordered place that it is a row has broken out between Trinity House who own the building and the Council. TH want to knock down the red brick building you see in the background and turn the cleared area into a  car park! (Yes the cars would have to pass through this archway) Not to be outdone the Council have decided to make the street outside this place a pedestrian area, effectively putting the kibosh on TH's madcap little scheme and upsetting several other businesses in the process. The Council claims it wants to attract more people to use the Princes Dock side cafes but as the pedestrianisation is only in effect between 11am and 4pm it's not going to affect the evening/night trade and seems to be a quite perverse action. But, hey, it's not the first stupid thing the Council has done and I doubt it will be last.

Tide Turning

Close by the Minerva pub near Victoria Pier sits this cute little slate sculpture entitled 'Tide turning'. I must have passed it dozens of times and not really noticed it, so I guess you can call it unobtrusive. No doubt someone, some where knows who made it but I haven't been able to find out.  

Toupée or not toupée ...

Should I be tempted to cover my balding pate do you think I should take to wearing a fluorescent toupée? It might brighten up my life, make me stand out out in a crowd ... I muse on this because not one but two shops selling gaudy wigs have sprung up in town. This, on Paragon Street,  had the larger and more colourful selection. Now the green or the pink? Choices, choices ...

Land Train

As mentioned back in February Hull has a land train now up and running. For £4 (I'm assuming we're all adults here) you can ride the beast from Queen Victoria square through the old town all the way across the wide and beautiful river to the Deep and back again in a little over an hour. Or you could just walk it for nowt, as we say in these parts .... when I took this picture there did seem to be more staff than passengers but maybe trade will pick up.

I suppose I should tell you that this thing has a website, here, last time I looked though it was"under construction". Unless it actually runs me over or falls into the river I shan't be mentioning this again.

Round Square

Long, long ago Margot's parents came to Hull for her graduation ceremony in the City Hall. They stopped off for a meal in a Chinese restaurant, after their meal they asked the way to the City Hall and were told to go along the road until they came to the "round square". From that day forth Queen Victoria square has been known in these circles as the round square. Back then it had traffic circulating the regal urinals and did not look like a paved desert. We are told this space will feature prominently in the 2017 C of C thing; well that'll be fun then won't it....


CDP's Square theme is here.

The Beauty of Curves

Bowlalley Lane

May day is traditionally a day of protest by workers against whatever it is workers don't like, usually low wages, the system, the bosses and the bourgeoisie and so on. Today's City Daily Photo first-day-of-the-month theme dictated to us without democratic choice is 'squares'. So in the spirit of the day and not to be cowed by the growing tyranny of theme days I give you this ornate entrance on Bowlalley Lane which is marred only by those two quite unnecessary quadrilaterals.

If you must seek squares you should look elsewhere.

Brunswick Arcade

Across the road from yesterday's empty church stands Brunswick Arcade. Built as the sign says in 1890 and like the curate's egg it's good in parts. The northern end is in pretty good nick with a newsagent (Pickwick Papers, where I used to get my papers from many years ago) and a couple of restaurants though one of them is undergoing renovation. No, the trouble lies, as you can see below, at this near end which is or was nearly collapsing from neglect and decay. Now this is a conservation area and no doubt these buildings are listed ( I haven't checked) and as members of the public tend to resent buildings falling on their heads the Council has been put in the position of having to pay for scaffolding to prop up a building it does not own. Price, according to local press, a mere £200,000. Fine you might say, an emergency required emergency action except the emergency was back in 2011! Every week costs the Council £150 just for inspections required by law. No sight or sound of the people this wreck belongs to. The Council are quoted in the paper as saying "Any costs will be recovered from the owners", it's good to live in hope, don't you think?

Trafalgar Street Church

Oh those Victorians! How they did like their churches, scattering them around the town with nary a thought to what the future would bring, like the market in Christianity collapsing post 1914-18. So now we have to deal with what might called post-Christian blight. This situation is made worse by a sentimental attachment to all things 'old' even if 'old' is only a hundred years and also conservation laws that defy stylistic and economic reason. Here's Trafalgar Street church on Beverley Road, built by the Baptists in 1906 in a mock Gothic brick flint-clad style (no doubt the builders' enthusiasm or funds did not run to paying out for stone) that you either love or detest (personally, it's as ugly a prayer factory as I've seen for quite some time). It was abandoned by them in 2002 then used by an even smaller sect for a while; it has been standing empty for nearly a decade. The rear church hall is now apartments, so far so good; but what on earth to you do with an empty church? Well they tried selling it for £160,000 but had to settle for a mere £80,000. That was over a year ago and still it sits there behind security fencing. I'm told it has been weatherproofed.  

Well now it seems to be a law that where ever there's an 'old' building falling into disrepair because there is no use for it there springs up a 'support' group to 'save' it and this is no exception. They want National Lottery money as well as donations for their rescue scheme. And their plan for this former house of God? A community gym! Because you must treat your body as a temple I suppose.

Did I mention it's a Grade 2 listed building in a conservation area? No? But then you'd probably guessed that's why it hasn't been knocked down a long time ago. More on this conservation nonsense tomorrow.

Old department store

The other day I went to East Park, a big mistake. Someone had turned it into a over sized playing field and filled it with thousands of screaming brats, yes, I'd forgotten it was still Easter Holidays and it seems the whole of east Hull had gone to the park for the day. Not a pretty sight. Strangely two of the park's attractions, if I may call them that, the water splash and the water park were not in action, neither were there any boats on the lake. Hull's parks department also seem to have taken a holiday. Anyhow, beating a hasty retreat I took this of what I think was once an old Cooperative department store on Holderness Road.

Oak before Ash

Ash

"If the oak before the ash, then we'll only have a splash, if the ash before the oak, then we'll surely have a soak"

If my oak and ash are any guide (and who is to say they aren't) it looks like we might be in for a dry Summer. That reminds me, I need a new brolly ....

 

Oak

 The Weekend in Black and White is here.

Have a nice day, Mr Turner

It may not come as a surprise to you to learn that there is little love lost between myself and the political powers that be in this area. A few weeks back a local MP, Karl Turner, blocked me on Twitter but not before calling me "meaningless"! Another local MP also blocked me after a mildly sarcastic comment about a box of chocolates and a long stemmed rose, they are such sensitive souls these politicos. Poor Mr Turner recently had to admit to misusing a Parliamentary email address on his Labour Party advertising, no great sin, I know, but hardly professional. And I might yet add to his woes: is that the House of Commons trademark portcullis sign I see adorning the offices of the East Hull Labour Party on Holderness Road? To quote Parliament's web site: "The principal emblem of the House is the Crowned Portcullis. It is a royal badge and its use by the House has been formally authorised by licence granted by Her Majesty the Queen. The designs and symbols of the House should not be used for purposes to which such authentication is inappropriate, or where there is a risk that their use might wrongly be regarded, or represented, as having the authority of the House." Oh dear, I do hope the House of Commons doesn't see this, well I won't tell if you don't.

"For you can’t do that there ‘ere ...."

“For you can’t do that there ‘ere,

“No, you can’t do that there ‘ere;

“Anywhere else you can do that there,

“But you can’t do that there ‘ere.”

This rather proscriptive sign down by the Humber Quays buildings brought to mind an old music hall song of which I knew only the chorus. The internet, however, is a marvelous toy and a few inquiries of our good friend Mr Google brought forth a link to the following offering from You Tube.