Hype?

Near the mouth of the river Hull the Council have erected several large adverts to hide a derelict site. The Council's aim seems to be to convince the passerby that Hull is going to be a centre for "green" industry. And it is true that Siemens have chosen Hull as the site of their wind turbine factory. But and it's a big but, the Government appears to be turning distinctly blue on all matters green, so much so that Siemens and other eco-firms have warned of withdrawing from the UK. I hope I'm wrong but this green future for Hull may end in tears.

Tap

Another empty shop, this one providing a space for a bit of 'art'.

The Khyber Pass

I mentioned before that Hull had a large garrison protecting the entrance to the river Hull and when it was demolished parts of it went to make a feature called the Khyber Pass in East Park. Until the other day I hadn't been over the bridge that crosses this odd folly nor had I realised quite how large it is.

Tall tyre man

Taken last week on Holderness Road and it really was that dark and overcast, well, OK I may have tweaked the saturation a tad here ...

Man's best friend

I don't have a dog but if I did I think it would be a greyhound, they're such elegant looking beasts (unlike me). I've read that greyhounds despite being extremely fast actually require very little exercise, just 30-40 minutes the park a day keeps them happy. This one had clearly had had enough and was leading his owner homewards.

See more of the Weekend in Black and White here.

Adorned with a handsome fountain

The Boulevard was planned as a grand thoroughfare running up from the Humber to Anlaby Road and possibly beyond. It is a fine, wide, tree lined road with many fine villa residences built for the well-to-do of the time. In the 1870s someone writing of the Boulevard noted that "about half-way down, the street widens into a spacious circle, the centre being adorned with a handsome fountain”. Fifty or so years later a car crashed into the fountain and completely wrecked it. And so for eighty years the Boulevard was sans fontaine. After a seven year campaign of fundraising this delightful restoration was installed in 2008. 

If you're thinking this looks familiar it is a copy of the mermaid fountains that adorn the Avenues area, only this one works.

Horse and Cart

The big moan in Hull at the moment concerns the state of the roads. They're full and traffic is moving sometimes at three or four miles an hour. It's a headache caused by repairs to a bridge and another set of roadworks (including digging up my street) all coinciding. With all the disruption it's probably quicker to walk or go by horse and cart.