Lift that gloom

Ring out the bells, strike up the band, etc etc. The news today is filled with facts and figure showing this scepter’d isle, this earth of majesty, is the fastest growing economy in Europe if not the whole world ... Difficult to believe as I shuffle round the deserted streets with boarded up shops and see the young folks going to sign on for their pittance; if this is the best then god help the rest.

This is looking across the marina entrance towards Holy Trinity on a day of driving showers and unremitting clouds.

Survival of the fittest

It was in March last year that I found it odd that there were two keep-fit establishments practically within spitting distance of each other. The locked gates and concrete road blocks are proof, if it were needed, that was only room for one after all.

Resting

East Park

Looking the other way from yesterday's post these are the ornamental flower beds that make such a colourful display in high Summer but are resting just now.

Winter trees

East Park, Hull

So far it's not been  much of a Winter to be honest more a prolonged slightly chilly Autumn with mild winds and bouts of rain. Hardly any frosts. It's been so mild I've not been wearing my trademark woolly hat.

The weekend can be seen in black and white here.

Could be any old street

Mersey Street is just an ordinary East Hull street of neat two-up two-down terraced houses most with their little satellite dishes. It runs off Holderness Road down to a primary school whose tower you can see in the distance. Oh there's the Croda wind powered generator lurking in the distance but other than that it's just a plain old street where nothing dramatic happens except this and sadly this and many, many years ago children from the school were involved in this but apart from all that, as far as I can tell, it's just an ordinary street but who can tell?.

The Bank

I'm guessing this particular bank on Holderness Road didn't suffer too much in the recent financial crises. This old Hull Savings Bank despite no longer taking deposits seems to have no liquidity problems.

James Stuart JP

I've passed this statue on Holderness Road hundreds of times and thought that this guy must at least have been a famous politician, an MP or some such. I mean just look at the size of the pedestal. Turns out he was just some local councillor, president of the East Hull Liberal Association no less. He started a firm producing seed oil which eventually became British Oil & Cake Mills Ltd. So a big fish in a small pond. He is said to have been active in improving education in Hull (a truly sisyphean task). Apart from this I've no idea what he, as opposed to any other local bigwig, did  to merit such a statue, paid for by one Thomas Ferens, he of the art gallery. Normally this chap is adorned with a traffic cone to keep his head warm in the Winter nights but it's been so mild lately he's cast it off.