Friday, 24 September 2010

East

Above, the flood protection barrier which I've pictured before and the view stretching along the north bank of the Humber  towards the village of Paull. Below, the varied roof tops, old and new, of the old town; the horizon has the cranes of the King George Dock and the cooling towers of the Saltend chemical works.

 

Thursday, 23 September 2010

West


West towards Anlaby Road and its architectural delights. That these high rise flats were (and still are) considered a great improvement when they were built is testament to the horrors that went before.

Wednesday, 22 September 2010

South


Looking south over the Marina and the redeveloped dockside. The road is Castle Street, often busy, regularly snarled up and scheduled for a serious rethink except there's no money. The horizon shows where sky and Lincolnshire and water meet.

Tuesday, 21 September 2010

Sudden elegancies


This is the view across Queen Victoria Square from Princes Quay's multi-storey car park. I knew there had to be a good use for those motor car crèches.

Monday, 20 September 2010

Newbegin, Beverley


This imposing Georgian town house was built in the mid 18th century. Naturally its a Grade2 listed building. If you fancy living here you can, sort of. It's Bed & Breakfast albeit a 4 star B&B. 


Sunday, 19 September 2010

Dryad's saddle Polyporus squamosus

 
On a walk through Beverley Westwood I came across this fine specimen on a stump of a tree that had been felled in early Spring. It's called Dryad's Saddle after the wood nymph, apparently it's edible but has an extremely tough texture. It's not particularly rare and I've seen a few before but none as good as this.

Saturday, 18 September 2010

Pearson Park, Hull

 There's a vogue nowadays for philanthropic intervention in public affairs. This is not a new thing, in 1860 Zacchariah Charles Pearson donated a few acres of land in west Hull for a public park. Good for him you say; well up to a point. You see he kept a ring of land surrounding the park for his own speculative building venture and got the people of Hull to pay for a park in the middle. His business and political acumen left him when he led a doomed venture trying to run guns and ammunition to the Confederacy in the US civil war; he lost everything and ended his days practically penniless in a house on Pearson Park. I have a vague memory of some Confederate followers tracing down his grave in Springbank cemetery and renovating it, but that may just be my mind going.
The top picture shows the lake and a Victorian hothouse/conservatory which has a few fishes in tanks and some birds in cages. The colourful blob on the right is, I'm afraid, yet another toad. Below is a detail of the obelisk memorial to old Zacc.