Big Guns

Nowadays Bridlington will welcome any visitor who cares to call but at one time there was felt a need to keep out certain foreign invaders, the French, the Dutch, the Spanish just about everybody at one time or another even the Americans. The top gun, on the North pier, was found during excavations and restored in the 1977, the lower one was found by a passing gull who set up home there.

The Weekend in Black and White is here.

Making Ready

On what was possibly the greyest and dullest day ever known I took myself off to the seaside for an afternoon in Bridlington. The place was somewhat rundown and not quite awake, with lots of little painting jobs being carried out and pavements being power hosed by the Council in readiness for the forthcoming influx of tourists. No amount of painting however will cover up the demolition heap of what was once a broken down leisure centre and what will be a brand new £20 million (there must be money in the East Riding!) pleasure palace.

Church's North Door

Turning 180 degrees from yesterday's post and moving no more than a few feet here's Holy Trinity's north door. I'd say this was a nice piece of gothic albeit in brick with dressed stone. English Heritage however has it as a "restored north doorway with moulded head and triple filleted shafts" so now you know. The two carved head are looking a bit distressed which considering they've possibly been hanging around there for nigh on six hundred years is hardly surprising.

North Church Side

After yesterday's little diversion where were we? Oh yes, outside a tattoo parlour on North Church Side. Well here's broader street view. The building with the tower houses a boxing club and beyond that there's the indoor market or what's left of it. This little street leads on to Posterngate near that white building in the distance. 

Here's the entrance to the boxing club which seems to be wanting to tell us something ...

Yes that is snow in the picture; it was taken last March.

From espaliers to Brendan Behan in one easy step

No big building these days comes without at least some landscaping, few roses here, a flower bed there, an act of propitiation for the dreadful architecture that usually lurks behind. Well Humberside Police HQ on Clough Road is no exception and this expensive lump comes with a row of espaliers. I don't know if they're apple trees and plod is setting up an orchard but they are an interesting development.

If you think that, because of the date, this is a joke then you might be right or you could check out the City Daily Photos theme day where they're fixated on triangles for some reason. I must admit that when I heard that triangles were to be the theme my mind instantly thought of this. Sláinte!

Cruithni

 

In the shadow of Holy Trinity this tattoo shop's sign intrigued me. Cruithni? Who or where or what is a cruithni. A short visit to our mutual friend Mr Google reveals that the Cruithni were a bronze age bunch of people living in Ulster about 700BC. Quite what that has to do with this place I don't know, maybe they just liked the sound of it. They have a website and it's here. Also while I'm here I may as well point out that this building or rather a building on this site was the origin of the Smith & Nephew health products company.

Spring forward once again

Driffield's Millennium Clock

So we lurch bleary eyed into Bloody Stupid Time so that we can enjoy 'extra' daylight in the evenings or in the mornings I forget which. Well whoopee doo! All across Europe and other places clocks are being taken down and fiddled with in this twice yearly farce. In these days of internets and instant communications why do we need to go through this rigamarole, it's just  plain bonkers. If people want to get up with the sun no-body is stopping them setting their alarms early, but no, we all have to suffer this tosh. Just set the clocks to GMT or whatever is suitable locally and leave it alone. Grrrr