Fall into monochrome

For some reason the usual Autumnal change in leaf colour has been very disappointing. Leaves are going from green to a dirty grey/brown and then dropping off. Maybe we'll have some colour later on.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat ....

A sunny Autumn day brought some rowers onto East Park lake. The chilly wind (that the camera does not show) didn't seem to affect these hardy souls tough. 

A poor life this if, full of care,

...We have no time to stand and stare?

These beauties were by the Driffield canal the other day; not once did they let me out of their sight. 

Closed for demolition

This row of shuttered shops on Ferensway is not a victim of the banksters greed, at least not directly. In a way they are a surprising success story that has had come to close. These buildings were put up as temporary shops just after the war to replace bomb damaged property. They had a life expectancy of ten years but have been here over sixty years. They were due to be demolished a few years ago but there's no money so here they stay. On a personal note I bought my first 'serious' camera , a Practika, I believe, from Hilton's (the third shop down) nearly thirty years ago.

Rust Park

There's a wise saying that if a thing ain't broken you don't fix it; it goes without saying that Hull Council lacks even this basic savvy. Behold the solution to a problem that did not exist. The new entrance to West Park, dandy ain't it! Yes that's real rust, genuine 100% iron oxide. Now Hull folk may not know much about art but they know what they like and they really hate this. "Looks like parts from an old trawler", “dirty”, “dull” and “The change looks tacky, like it was designed by schoolchildren.” are some of the comments made to the local paper. Not content with this, roads, lined, of course, with rusting curved lamp posts, were built through this quaint old Victorian park splitting it in two.

Now I'm not one to criticise just for the sake of it but this 'statement' is meant to impress visitors to Hull especially those going to the football stadium through the park. This heap of rusting junk says, accurately, that Hull is falling apart.

Oh, I forgot, the bill for all this ... a mere £7 million.

Flying

Ex libris

What do you do with a library that the Council have decided is "surplus to requirements"? This is or was the Carnegie Library on Anlaby Road. It opened in 1905 with funds from the steel magnate Andrew Carnegie and was closed in 2001 when the books were moved to a nearby 'learning centre' (?). It then stood more or less empty until 2007 when the Carnegie Heritage Action Team took it over. It now houses the East Yorkshire Family History Society and a book binding service.