Walking home

Hull Road, Cottingham

I could always catch a bus and pay whatever the fare is these days from Cottingham to Golf Links Road but then it's not like it's that far and it's hardly unpleasant ... so one foot in front of the other it is then. Perhaps I could get a bike!

Step away from the window

Here as promised is the West window of Beverley Minster. I'm told it depicts figures and events in early Christianity in Northumbria. Though this is fine late Gothic perpendicular style the glazing dates from restoration work carried out in the mid 19th century by a company called Hardman's of Birmingham formed at the behest of Gothic revival fruitcake A. W. N. Pugin. English Heritage (bless them) describes this as a " 9-light sub-arcuated west window", I suppose brevity is next to godliness...

John, Luke, Mark and Matthew

Somehow this massive 18^th century carved oak door survived the ravages of the Gilbert Scott's 'restoration' of Beverley Minster. The door depicts from right to left the four evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John with their respective symbols. A family of craftsmen by the name of Thornton is responsible for this door and the baptismal font cover which I'll show some time soon. The same Thorntons also saved the North transept from collapsing.

In reality the door is a very dark brown  but my camera failed me (or I failed it) and underexposed it; so to make an anywhere decent image I've had to play around ending up with this black and white image, it's a bit clearer if you click on it for the bigger version. Below shows the impressive door surround (they did like their statues back then) and the base of the West window which I'll show tomorrow.

The Weekend in Black and White is here.

Goths, Vandals and so on

Strange how the term Gothic was originally one of abuse and denigration (and has become so again when applied to the youthful urge to wear black and look as if  death would be a blessed relief from the toils of the world!). This was, as Vasari commented, a barbarous German style of building. Christopher Wren, no doubt with a view to his own line of business, also piled on the bad vibes. This was the style of the Goths who had, it was supposed, destroyed all that was good in classical Rome. Well, hmmm. If you're trying to sell a new product you don't exactly want to praise the old competition now do you?
This top view is through the canopy of the Percy Tomb in Beverley Minster. I'm guessing it would, when new, have been brightly painted and gilded. It's thought to be no later than around 1340 in construction and was one of the last pieces of original building in the Minster. After this the building gradually decayed, it survived the dissolution of the monasteries because it was a parish church otherwise we would now be looking at a picturesque ruin (that would cost a whole lot less to maintain). The North transept almost collapsed in the 18th century and was saved and repaired. However much of what we see now in here has been cleaned up, marble floors and columns polished and walls scrubbed by George Gilbert Scott (yup him again) one of those Victorian Gothic revivalist maniacs. He did such a thorough job that the place now looks like a giant shiny polished museum, sterile, pickled and most definitely dead, others call it a Gothic masterpiece.

Messing about with boats

Here's a small boat slowly motoring into the marina some time back in August. Couldn't find a use for this picture or rather collection of pictures stitched up until this month's City Daily Photo theme of 'movement' was announced.

A Big No-No

And the villain still pursued her, yes, he chased her high and low
I don't know what he asked her, but she always answered , "No."

As I mentioned at the start of this month the East Riding of Yorkshire Council was to hold an exercise in local democracy, a referendum of those who live in the villages and towns surrounding Hull, following noises from Hull City Council that it might want to expand its boundaries. Everyone expected a majority against expansion and so it turned out with over 96% against! So no big surprise there. What was surprising and most pleasing was the turnout; over 75% of those entitled to vote bothered to fill in the form and post it off. That's better than some recent general elections. It might have cost the ERYC £1 per vote but this was a loud and clear "keep your thieving hands off" message from Hull's neighbours. 

Not that Hull Council will take any notice of this at all, indeed the leader of HCC (who it has to be said looked mightily pissed in the American sense of the word) is still spreading scaremongering tales of the area losing out on economic growth, jobs, investment, blah, blah if Hull doesn't get its way, ...and apparently we're asking the wrong questions  yadda yadda yadda ... all desperate nonsense from desperate politicians.

HCC are paying for an 'independent' commission into all this. The leader of this commission, the life president of a leading local company, states not to have discussed any of the issues with any Hull councillor nor indeed does he actually know any Hull councillors. And I am Marie of Romania ...

So to the results: Question one was "should the boundaries of Hull be extended to include Anlaby with Anlaby Common, Bilton, Cottingham, Elloughton cum Brough, Hedon, Hessle, Kirk Ella, North Ferriby, Preston, Swanland, Welton and Willerby?" 51,312 voted no, 1,887  voted yes.

And question two was "do you think Hull City Council should be allowed to build on land it owns in the green open spaces separating Hull and the towns and villages in the East Riding?" 50,981 voted no, 2,167 voted yes

Former Bank in Red

Staying on Lairgate, across from Narrow Racket is this striking building. It was originally the Beverley Savings Bank back in 1843. I was going to say that was a time before bankers became pariahs and despised amongst men but I doubt there ever was such a time.