Blade runner

Apologies if this is not the finest quality shot but this cargo ship was nearly two miles away across the old Humber. The odd looking items are wind turbine blades heading to some assembly plant upstream. These may not match the world's longest blades (75m!) but they're still a fair size. News came only last week of yet another big deal for the wind powered industry with Dong from Denmark (I kid you not) signing to build an offshore turbine complex near Grimsby on the south bank, so we should expect to see more cargoes like this.

A little OTT? Perhaps not ...

I have noticed that Hull University's graduation days have become something of an annual bean feast, with town criers and chamber music and so on. All those well dressed ladies in high heels that obviously were hurting like hell. What could they do this year to top the last? Well an over sized CCT screen showing the ceremony from City Hall live in Queen Vic Square was not the most obvious answer but here it is nevertheless. Next year a fly pass by the RAF perhaps? I suppose if you are going to put yourself in debt for twenty five years buying a degree (sorry that's paying for tuition, what was I thinking?) then a little celebration is in order. Good luck to all those newly qualified clever so and sos. I really don't envy you, well not much.

Long Walk to Freedom

It's been a while since I had walked down the lower end of High Street which I have shown before to have an empty plot awaiting the construction of an umpteen storey hotel. The site had a dismal security fence with the usual warnings for those who would misbehave. So it was something of a pleasant surprise to come across this colourful mural to Nelson Mandela which apparently went up last September. Don't know how I've missed this 'til now. 

Finally credit where credit is due. This was commissioned by Full Flava Arts along with Roots and Wings and Freedom Festival Ltd and it's the work of twelve graffiti artists. You can view the creation of the mural and get a much fuller view than I present here by going to this page.

Say Cheese

In Latin American culture the instruction is, quite rightly, "Diga 'whiskey'" and while Swedes like to say 'Omelette', Danes have "Sig 'appelsin'", say orange. Germans, I'm told, prefer spaghetti, Iranians apples and Moroccans bread. All silly ways to make people smile while having their photos taken. (I suppose the modern version is along the lines of "Say Selfie") Are you smiling? No? Well suit yourself.

Oh and if you can say 'Cheese' ten times without laughing then it seems you are a very truthful person. 

This is the service gate of the Hull Cheese about which I posted at length some time back, here.

Truelove revisited

Given the usual practice of removing metallic works of art from public view in order to release the scrap value therein it is heartening that this installation has survived the passage of time. Here, once again, are Memiadluk and Uckaluk ill-fated visitors to this town from far northern lands. No excuse for reposting this other than it's a better image and my new camera, capable of facial recognition, said the subjects blinked, well hah!

The good old weekend in black and white is here.

Aussies suck ...

... something called Up & Go (a breakfast drink, m'lud ) every morning which is why they will no doubt win this Summer's Ashes series which starts today in Cardiff. Sadly there'll be no “Morning, everyone” from Richie Benaud but life goes on. Cricket, I'm told, is an impenetrable mystery to some folks who fail to see how a match can last five days, end in a draw (if we're lucky!) and still be gripping stuff. Well there you go, that's just how it is.
These adverts however really do 'suck' if I may use the vernacular.

True story

This little house has been empty for some time. Emptiness is taken as an invitation by low-life scum to enter and take out all the copper piping, to  mess the place up, break all the windows, squat for a while, use as a drug den and then finally set fire to it. Add to all that the failure of the foundations leading some real fancy cracks, it's a wonder it has fallen down. In the above picture the rear extension is on the point of tumbling over. The Council have scheme to bring properties like this back to life but the damage was too great even for that most generous of institutions, it gave the place a zero value; £0!!

Still the place was not doomed for a Prince Charming had fallen in love with this sleeping little money pit and set his heart on restoring it to its former glory. So just the other week after years of trying to trace the owner he finally bought the place and has set about clearing the overgrown garden (mainly elderberry and ivy not thorns! This is not a fairy tale!) and will shortly be demolishing those parts about to fall down with a view to rebuilding. This blog (and, I suppose, the nice guy who lives next door) wishes him well!

Tre Kronor

Guildhall, Hull

It's a little known fact the Hull was once a Swedish city and that there was much trade with that Baltic country in medieval times that continues to this day. This explains the accent of native born Hull folk and also how Hull's coat of arms has three crowns on it exactly like the Swedish coat of arms and the ever so similar the three crowns over the stadshus of Stockholm. Sweden's ice hockey team wear three crowns on their shirts as do Hull's two Rugby League sides. It's all very sub rosa and embarrassing as the English like to think the king in Kingston upon Hull was an English King when in fact it was one of the Gustavs or maybe a Magnus I forget for the moment. Sadly, or more likely stupidly, wars have been fought over these three damned crowns. Hull's three crowns are even protected by an Act of Parliament. All this hidden history is so little appreciated that you could say I just made it all up. It's the heat, Carruthers, the damned heat....

The weekend in black and white is here.

Real history people have little or no idea about these three crowns either as you can find out here.

Say it with padlocks

As the Parisian Pont des Arts padlock affair came to a close the other week so a new one springs up here at the Victoria Pier. These, as far as I can tell, are unlike the French version not symbols of undying love but acts of remembrance to lost family members, not so much matched as dispatched shall we say. There are wreaths and little cards with those sickly doggerel verses that accompany death notices in newspapers. This is a most unwelcome development and symptomatic of the increasing desire for public displays of 'grief'. The place, which attracts many visitors for its views across and along the Humber, is in danger of becoming a morbid eyesore. 

Hanging around

This poor girl has been hanging around with the blood going to her head for over a year now and by rights I should have posted this last year with all the others from the day given over to celebrate Hull's selection as the City of Culture (here). But I didn't and so luckily for me (and for you, my joyful reader!) I can post it for this month's collection of all things upside down by the people at City Daily Photo.

Cranky

I think the heat may be getting to me and it's only the first day of what is billed (by weather people with big smiles you would love to hit with a wet fish) as a heatwave. Well I know 28°C is hardly going to cook your brains but I do NOT do hot. I'll probably aestivate if it carries on much longer... 

It seems I spoke too soon

The non-going drama of the repairs to Victoria Pier continues to enthral spectators. It's been eighteen months now of non-stop inactivity. In March I wondered whether the arrival of these large beams meant that the end of the road was in sight. I need not have worried. 

Don't ask me ....

..'cos I haven't a clue. This fragile rusting thing attached to some boards hangs in an alley off Humber Street. I can make out the words 'The Monitor Loops' or perhaps 'The Loops Monitor'. It obviously meant something to someone at some time.

Big Lifter

The mess that is Humber Street clearly requires some heavy lifting and in a narrow street a big crane has to go up and over both sides to get the new metal work in place. Even with this machine the street will no doubt still be an array of scaffolding and supports by the time of the Humber Street Sesh in August when thousands will descend upon it in search of entertainment.

Funerary Angel

It's been a while since I posted anything for the taphophiles amongst you. Here is the final resting place of one William Henry Smith who died in 1900 aged 48. This angel in Spring Bank General Cemetery has featured before a few years ago in a rear view here.

The weekend in black and white is here.

K is for kippers, of course

Further fishy fun on Posterngate at Number 9, I think.

Hull ♡ attack

Someone has clearly entered into the full spirit of the City of Culture thing with a colourful mini-mural on Posterngate. As the whole shebang doesn't start for another year and half this may need a bit of touching up before then.

Summer meadow in the heart of town

On Blackfriargate a patch of land has been left to sort itself out and that is just what it's doing in a colourful way, of course. This mad mix of poppies, clovers, teasels and grasses is all free and could be available across town and country if councils parked up their grass mowers until Autumn. 

Fruits of the forest

According to those that know about these things this yellow fungus is not only edible but quite possibly tastes like chicken. I'll take their word for it. It looks like someone or something has taken a bite out of it already. This is Laetiporus sulphureus or chicken of the woods and this specimen is on that well known forest glade known as Fairfax Avenue.

Tall poppy syndrome

Even in these austere days the Council sees fit to go round with herbicide and clear any green growing thing from the base of every roadside post. Further they go round every fortnight with mowers trimming down all the grassy verges. It something they do because they've always done it, an utterly pointless waste of money. Does long grass threaten civilisation or do flowers portend a revolution? What harm would it do to leave things be and let a billion flowers grow? 

"We all go a little mad sometimes....Haven't you?"

I wonder if they have a fruit cellar ...

Post Office Red

When the grand old central post office up the road was closed a few years ago this less imposing but perhaps more viable post office opened up on Lowgate. Clearly it's had a recent repaint job and is looking all spick and span.

Dead Poets' Corner

I took a few more shots of Larkin's somewhat grotesque statue in Paragon Station the other day with a view to using them at some point in the future. He's always good for a post on a dull day is my view. Well it seems the dull day has arrived rather quicker than I expected as it's been announced that the man who handed on misery to man is to be honoured, if that's the right word, in Westminster Abbey's poets' corner. Would it be going too far to say that the Abbey is jumping on the city of culture bandwagon? Perhaps. The ceremony, on December 2 2016, will take place only days before the start of the Culture fest in 2017. The custom used to be to bury the famous scribes in the Abbey but nowadays they just lay a named floor stone. I'm thinking a pair of entwined bicycle clips or a hedgehog would be a fitting extra decoration anything but toads ....

Shark infested pavement

Regular readers will be aware of the Hull fish trail. Well here's another one for the collection, a rather sad looking shark, and I think it's the biggest on the trail. It's on Whitefriargate near the ugly brute I posted a while back. This shark is carved from slate and was originally in the middle of Whitefriargate but was damaged by a heavy truck. It's now repaired and out of harm's way, appropriately outside the HSBC building.

Dope Burger

Parked up on Midland Street this decorated van belongs to a take away, or rather a fast food restaurant,  by the name of Dope Burger on Anlaby Road. Despite its name, or maybe because of it, the place has rave reviews ...

Bring out your dead

I mentioned so time ago that the old burial ground of Holy Trinity church on Castle Street stood in the way of proposed improvements and that a large portion of it would have to cleared. People were asked to make contact with the authorities if their ancestors were interred in here. Anyhow some work has started, all hidden behind a whopping high fence. However they forgot about the bit where the old wall stands so it's possible to hold a camera over and take a sneaky peek. They've cleared the gravestones and some kind of drill is in place. Clearly this has done irreparable damage to the place. At least the trees are still standing, hopefully the bat roost is undisturbed.

Now all this might be deemed fit and proper; clearing ground for development and so on, if the proposed road scheme were just itching to start. But, and this comes as absolutely no surprise, there is still no planning application in place and the Highways Agency now claims there are environmental issues it has to overcome. The start date is pushed back to 2020 or even later ... or never. I let you draw your own conclusion about the announcement of this further delay coming just after the recent election. You get the feeling we'll all be dead in our graves before this is started.

PS. I should add that all the exhumed bones will be reburied in an unspoilt part of the graveyard. And this from the local paper is advice to anyone who thinks their ancestors may be buried there to call the project team on 0113 2836805 or email A63castlestreet.hull@highways.gsi.gov.uk

The trouble with kilts ...

... is that you can't read the little bits of Larkin poems scattered around Hull station without looking faintly funny as you lift first one foot then the other to see the literary gem beneath your pleated tartan.

Going, going, almost gone

The recent fire at the New York Hotel uncovered weaknesses in the neighbouring Albert Hall on Midland Street. The Council, for once not taking its time, issued notices to fix it by the end of the month or it will be demolished. Well as you can see the facade, which was dropping bit and bobs on the pavement below, has gone and the rest will no doubt soon follow at the tax payers expense while the Council chase up the owners for the money ....

My left foot

Here's one of Margot's photos of irises on Ella Street and me waiting patiently and not quite out of view in the background ...

Gardener's Arms

With the University just a short walk down the road this place is very much a favourite with the academic (and perhaps not so academic) crowd. It's usually full to the brim and overflowing at lunch times. Along with this sunny beer garden there's also pool tables and no fewer than 17 TVs (blimey!) all showing sport, sport and more sport!!! (how nice...)

Fat Larry's as was

Fat Larry's if I remember right sold second hand CDs and that sort of stuff a few years back. This corner block including the shop next door was known as Pools Corner selling anything second hand, TVs, bikes, furniture and lots of  fishing gear as I recall. They ran a cheque cashing scheme as well. I may have bought a TV from there many, many years back (I've checked with Margot and yes we did, says herself, it was the one that went pink! Hmm.). Well Fat Larry is long gone and Pools Corner is now Ella Street Social Club.

One flew over the Crow's Nest

Outside this Italian restaurant on Newland Avenue was parked the smallest delivery van I've ever seen. This place was a year or so ago called La Perla, new name, new decor and it's getting good reviews. I've seen the menu and like all these places it's far from cheap for what is essentially pasta with some sauce on top. Thirty years ago this was a greasy spoon of a place by the name of the Crow's Nest (if I remember me rightly) it specialised in bacon butties and tea served in a pint mug! Autres temps, autres goûts! 

Keep focused

Oops!

Astonished brickwork

Ella Street (or at least its residents' association) has a thing about birds, there are bird tables along the length and little model birds attached to street furniture, I've posted about this a while back (here). What I didn't know then but have found since is that this avian fix has extended to putting up little quotes from literature with a birdy theme. Various authors from Wordsworth to Poe were chosen. Anyhow this being Hull and reason being what it is I suppose they could not escape the Larkin effect. At least this is one of his more cheery verses, yes I know it's difficult to believe. 

And while I'm on about old baldy, some of you may recall the fibre glass toads that decorated the town a while back on the celebration (there is no better word for it) of his death some 25 years earlier, well wait five years and suddenly it's thirty years since his death and a reunion of toads is planned this year along with a very large inflatable toad to hang over the town centre. You know a dead Larkin is the gift that keeps on giving ... It's a culcher thing, innit!

This is on the wall of the Jewish cemetery at the far end of Ella Street and close by that delight of modern architecture that I posted the other day .

You want the whole picture and the whole poem? Surely you do, it's really not that long, honest.

Coming 

On longer evenings,
Light, chill and yellow,
Bathes the serene
Foreheads of houses.
A thrush sings,
Laurel-surrounded
In the deep bare garden,
Its fresh-peeled voice
Astonishing the brickwork.
It will be spring soon,
It will be spring soon—
And I, whose childhood
Is a forgotten boredom,
Feel like a child
Who comes on a scene
Of adult reconciling,
And can understand nothing
But the unusual laughter,
And starts to be happy.

Philip Larkin

A stylish exit

Living near the large cemetery and crematorium on Chanterlands Avenue means funeral cortèges are a common sight in these parts. Most involve black limousines but I've noticed a worrying trend lately for grey hearses (!); this will never do. A few, very few, involve the old style horse drawn hearse like this one that clip-clopped slowly along Cottingham Road yesterday; a fine if, as I suspect, expensive send off.

Four walls and a roof

Here's another of the modern architectural delights on Saint Ninian's Walk.  I've shown it in black and white but you are not missing much colour since it is a pale blueish white, somewhat akin to a cyanotic corpse, in reality. I like the little sun hole in the roof which looks like an afterthought, the rest is just dire.

The Weekend in Black and White is here.

"Bag it and bin it; that way we'll win it ..."

Bricknell Avenue, Hull

Mobile refuse containers or wheelie bins as everyone calls them are surely the bane of modern life. Designed to save the planet by aiding recycling they have multiplied so that now each household in the land has at least two sometimes three, four or even five depending on how eco-stupid the council is feeling. Naturally a population of 70-80 million bins cannot be contained and so it spreads along the streets like a plague. As for the trash collected I'm told most of it gets put on to big ships and sent to China where no doubt it gets converted into wheelie bins and exported back to dear old Blighty....

And if you think leaving a bin on the street is a harmless pastime think again ...

From the Criminal Justice Act 1982

"137 Penalty for wilful obstruction.

(1)If a person, without lawful authority or excuse, in any way wilfully obstructs the free passage along a highway he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding [F1level 3 on the standard scale]."

F1level 3 is £1,000!