Playing with fire

It's that time of year again, when the main streets are closed and people come from all around for the thrills and spills of Cottingham Day. Here a unicylcing juggler entertains. More tomorrow.

The Holderness

Next door to yesterday's offering is the Holderness, a public house. It's a fairly old building appearing on maps going back to 1830s. However it is most certainly not a Tudor building as the external appearance might suggest. Apparently there was a fashion to decorate pubs in this mock-Tudor style in the early years of the last century (see also the Rose and Crown, Beverley).

Holderness, in case you were wondering, is the name given to an area of east Yorkshire running roughly from the river Hull to the North Sea. Click here and let Wikipedia tell you more. 

Hull's Angel

Came across this odd little figure above a workshop doorway on Dansom Lane. The windows suggest that the building may have had a religious function but I can find no information about it.

Update A friend has suggested that this building was once a Foreign & British school or to give it its full title British and Foreign School Society for the Education of the Labouring and Manufacturing Classes of Society of Every Religious Persuasion built sometime in the early 1800s. [ 1 ]

Underneath the arches

Tucked away behind the Mount Pleasant shops is an odd assortment of small businesses. A monumental mason, a scuba diving centre, a motorcycle and scooter dealer and last but not least a computer shop. The latter, Peckhams computers, is where I bought my reconditioned machine and I'd recommend anyone wanting a cheap machine to try here.

Holdy Road Blues

A recent article in the local paper suggested that the western end of Holderness Road needs some TLC.  I think it will take more than a bit of sprucing up and redecorating to brighten up this old road. And it's not as if it's a new problem. This road looks pretty much like it did when I first saw it nearly 30 years ago. It's always been a run down mix of used motor sales, greasy spoons and dodgy enterprises and night clubs you really wouldn't want to go to. Even when times were good they were never that good round these parts; the recession didn't make much difference to this area as it was never in growth to begin with, it simply speeded up the decline.

Mount Pleasant Retail Park

Something about the name Mount Pleasant conjures  up a vision of a gentle incline with trees and a bucolic ambience. In Hull, however, Mount Pleasant is a nasty cut through connecting the infamously horrible Hedon Road with the equally nasty Stoneferry. It is neither a mount nor pleasant. At the point where it crosses Holderness Road this architectural monstrosity has sprung up. As it is served by two main roads there's a large car park and it's almost always busy. These stores should be contrasted with the old shops I posted the other day which are just on the other side of Holderness Road and due to be replaced with the twin of this place.

Swallows

One swallow does not make a Summer and neither , it seems, do four or five. Rain totals show it's been the wettest second quarter on record and quite possibly the wettest June ever; although it's not been too bad in Hull other places have had flooding and even tornadoes! 

As it's the first of the month it's theme day for City Daily Photo with 'chimneys' as the chosen theme. Click here to see other participants. If that link doesn't work try here or the Facebook group here.