Creep down the alleyway

You never quite know what is waiting for you when you go down the alleyway's of Hull.

Fountain by night

Here's the fountain in Queen's Gardens all lit up.  

Here it is during daylight.

Winter sunset

They close the park at sunset; that's about two minutes after I took this shot.

Beverley Minster

After yesterday's long range shot here's one a bit closer. I know what you're thinking; why didn't I stand a little further back to take this shot? Well I would have but in the 18th century some inconsiderate person built a row of houses right alongside so I couldn't, now if only they'd thought .... This is the western end of the minster and I'm sure you'll agree it's a fine piece of gothic construction.

Minster money pit

Here's Beverley Minster taken last Spring, you can just make out the blossom in hedgerow.This is the view from the aptly named Long Lane; I guess this view hasn't changed in many centuries. 

This imposing building, built by an old power long gone, is now a tourist attraction with an insatiable demand for money to keep the rain out. I suspect it was ever thus.

The next to arrive at platform 2 ...

...is my train home.

christmas in hull dot co dot uk

When the early christians took over the pagan end of year festivals I suspect they had little idea of their own feast being taken over in turn by pursuit of sales. Still the lights are pretty enough and the crowds a lot thinner than in previous years; after all you can do it all online now.

Side Elevation

Here is 'One Humber Quays'; an office block built with taxpayers' money as part of a £17 million pound development in 2006. It stood half empty for five years whilst it housed a branch of the World Trade Centre. Earlier this year the WTC decamped to smaller premises. Under the new government's policy of dismantling anything and everything the old government did the place was sold, in what can only be called a depressed market, for considerably less than cost. This is what happens when you have a 'build it and they'll come' approach to redevelopment; you build it and they come and they take it for a song. It goes without saying that no politician or official was hurt during the making of this flim flam.

The Emigrants

This statue on the waterfront near Humber Dock commemorates the more than two million European emigrants who passed through Hull on their way to America in the 19th century until the outbreak of war in 1914. That's a lot of people moving themselves out of Europe and into America; I wonder if America would be so welcoming to another flood if times get tough in Europe. 

If you're a Liverpudlian and you think this looks familiar that's because there's an identical copy at the Albert Dock, Liverpool. The sculpture is by Neil Hadlock, Mark DeGraffenried and Taylor Hadlock from Utah and was donated by a Mormon led foundation in 2001, here's a link to more on this.

Fun with the sun

The December sun sets early and casts some really long shadows. The mill above I've shown before here. The temptation to take a silly picture was overwhelming so I gave in.

Winter draws on again

So to Westwood and another visit to this old chestnut tree that I showed round about this time last year. This year it's mild with no real frosts or snow unlike the deep freeze of last year. It can stay like this as far as I'm concerned.

Tight squeeze

Somebody's expensive toy makes its way into the marina.

Bah Bah Humbug

Betty Boop and a sheep standing outside a shop can only mean one thing; it's Xmas and the shops are getting desperate for our money.

Closed for the season

If you were to stand here anytime between, say, May and the end of September you'd be surrounded by crowds of day trippers and holiday makers stuffing their faces with fish and chips and burgers while gawping at the harbour. There'd be dozens of gulls to help them consume their repast. Come in December, however, and you have the place to yourself; just be sure to wrap up warm.

Rising of the moon

I didn't get to see the lunar eclipse yeserday but I did catch this nearly full moon rising over Bridlington on Friday.

Going down of the sun

The storm I mentioned yesterday has also meant that the fishing fleet has had to stay in harbour along with a visiting pirate ship.

Stormy weather

Yesterday we had the first real storm of the Winter with high winds and some heavy rain. The sea today was still very rough and this wave nearly caught me out.

Reflective Colours

Oh no, not another toad! I thought I'd seen the back of these critters until I came across this little dazzling beauty outside the Arc building on Queen Street. It's part of last year's 'Larkin with Toads' ballyhoo. The artist is Sue Kershaw who has a website here.

Before these toads drive me completely mad I must tell you the Larkin with Toads scheme was voted the "Most Remarkable Experience in Hull and East Yorkshire" and was also the winner of the Yorkshire Tourism Event of the Year award. Enough, that's it; no more toads ....

Neptune

Built in 1794 the Neptune Hotel in Whitefriargate was supposed to cater to captains and merchants using the newly opened docks. However things didn't quite work out and the building became the Customs House in 1815 until 1912. Nowadays the banqueting hall is the staff canteen of Boots the chemist. This little figure is the keystone of the entrance archway.

Autumn Cemetery

By Margot K Juby

 This angel is in Spring Bank cemetery, a wonderful place to wander through especially in Autumn.

In memoriam

In the Transport Museum gardens there's this tiny memorial to the human cost of the motor industry. It is about a foot tall. Last year 1,850 people were killed on the roads of UK; over the years millions have been killed or injured. If the internal combustion engine were a drug it would have been banned years ago. I see our city streets as a killing field and pedestrians as innocent victims of the drive for profit. And before you ask, no, I don't drive.
If you're of a curious disposition or are just plain morbid the BBC have a page on UK road traffic casualities here.

Missing letter effect

Swan Song

 

Here's a mute swan quietly drifting on East Park's boating lake. Mute swans are supposed to be silent until just before they die when they make a beautiful song. I don't know how true that is but someone has composed a tune based on the DNA of a swan! Isn't the internet a wonderful thing?

The Great Visitation of Cholera

 Lost in the wonderfully overgrown Spring Bank cemetery is this slightly leaning monument to a disastrous cholera outbreak in Hull in 1849. The plaque below gives the chilling numbers of dead; we can only imagine the horrors of those days. Nowadays with our clean drinking water and improved sanitation cholera is practically unknown in the UK but it stills kills over 100,000 mainly in the developing world.

Level Crossing

Waiting for the train to pass this little crowd gathered at the crossing on Spring Bank in October during Hull Fair week. I've noticed that there aren't many people in my photos so I'm making up for that with a whole bagful. 

Dive, dive, dive

The theme for this month's City Daily Photo is 'Action shot'. Well I trawled through my photos and came to the conclusion that my photos are possibly the most inactive on the planet. Then I stumbled on this forgotten image. Here's a red throated diver just about to pounce on some unsuspecting fish in Bridlington harbour.

If you want to see what others have made of this theme just click here.  

Hull Interchange

If you arrive in Hull by coach this is where you will debus. This is a much fancier place than the old windswept car park that coaches used to arrive at and I suppose it does give a better first impression. This shot shows how the new bus station has taken over part of the rail station; if you go through the station you end up here.

Hepworth's Arcade

Tucked away beside the market is this little gem; a Victorian arcade of small shops selling all sorts from jewellery and hi-fi to harmonicas and itching powder! It was built in 1894 for a Leeds tailor called Hepworth. It looks brand new after a sympathetic renovation a few years ago.

Flyover

This structure (yet another award winning example of the concrete pourer's art) carries traffic across town; it's that good old A63 that I've mentioned so many times before. Here it's been given a lift over a roundabout on Hessle Road.

Green Bricks

Sometimes it pretty obvious how a pub gets its name. This one is by the Humber Dock.

Hairy Horse

There's a real problem with horses in Hull. It's quite common to find horses tethered on strips of grass beside roadways or on grassy areas in housing estates even school playing fields. The Council are now confiscating the horses and their owners have to pay a fee to get them back. I can't understand why people would own up to a dozen or more horse and have no land on which to graze them.

The friendly fellow is quite safe though; he's in a field near my house

Rose and Crown

You might imagine that this is a fine olde English pub out of the Elizabethan age and , in a way , you'd be right. There's been a pub of sorts here for over 400 years but the building you see here is fine old mock Tudor from the 1930s. Never mind, if you fancy a day at Beverley Races then the Rose and Crown is but a short walk from the racecourse.  

Heads on back to front

I suppose for some a grave vandalised is a bit sickening; in Hull it's par for the course. This little statue is lucky to have been put back together even if it is somewhat wrongly oriented.

Princes Quay

When you've climbed to the rooftop car park of the shopping centre there's a helpful sign to tell you where you are.

Bring on the naked ladies ...

I've mentioned the lengths to which Beverley has gone to attract visitors with its ancient crafts and guilds trail; well here's yet another trail. Sadly not a trail of unclad ladies but of paintings by a local artist Frederick Elwell (who?). Dotted around the town are many reproductions of his work and those of his sister and for those who are interested (and there must be some, surely?) you get to walk around and cross them off your list. Here's another to whet your appetite or put you off completely.

Speed Limit

Speed limits are a custom more honour'd in the breach than the observance. There are reports that the maximum speed limit should be raised from 70 to 80 mph. It's said to be in the interest of  putting "Britain back in the fast lane of global economies". It's crazy, I know, but this government is reduced to trying anything.

This is the approach to Beverley from the Westwood. There's a tight little bend ahead so obeying the limit is advisable.

Newbegin again

The name Newbegin comes from old English meaning 'new building'. In the 14th century I suppose they were new; nowadays all those 'new' buildings have been replaced by Georgian town houses and look quite old.

By the Canal

The Drayman

When I first came to Hull 30 years ago most of the local pubs were supplied by the Hull Brewery Company and I recall that the beers so supplied were of the highest quality; I should know I supped enough of it. However it seems that others did not share my tastes and sales gradually dropped off (despite my best efforts). The brewery was sold and then in 1985 the sad and  fateful day arrived when the brewing stopped and the poor souls of Hull had to drink beer from Mansfield! 

But what to do with the old brewery itself? It stood empty for a while but in the early 90s they converted the place into offices and renamed it 'The Maltings' . This sculpture by Kevin Storch and is called 'The Drayman' and stands in the courtyard of the old brewery. It's cast in bronze and I think it's meant to be a fountain but it was turned off when I was there.

The Earl de Grey

No blog about Hull could  fail to mention the infamous Earl de Grey. This now closed drinking establishment is situated close to the docks. It had a reputation for a certain type of clientele; that is to say sailors with money and women who were all too willing to make them part with it. It was, in short, a knocking shop. Its renown was worldwide among the sailing fraternity.
A flavour of the place can be gleaned from the following story printed in the local paper when the pub closed. "Until 15 years ago, two parrots lived in the pub mimicking the drunken revellers who propped up the bar. Cha Cha and Ringo were popular regulars until the pub was burgled in 1985. The thieves, fearing the chatty parrots would reveal their identities, stabbed Cha Cha to death. Legend has it the bird was later buried under Castle Street during the road's construction. Lonely Ringo pined for his mate and never spoke again."

Now the building is Grade2 listed but boarded up with only this fading sign to remind us of its interesting if insalubrious past.

Man, if you gotta ask you'll never know.

Ok I'll tell you; it's a restaurant in a converted warehouse by Princes Quay. It's part of a chain of Italian restaurants and if you want to know more ask someone else. Over a year ago I showed one of the windows on the other side of the building here; by next year I might show the whole building.

Lights, Camera, Action ....

With these lights and cameras your car will be safely looked after in the Albion Street car park.

Fenced in

City Daily Photo's theme this month was fences and I wish now that I had remembered this shot that I took in June last year; still better late than never. This footbridge carries you over a main rail line and Clive Sullivan Way, actually the A63. Clive Sullivan was a famous rugby league player who played for both Hull teams and died at the age of 42.

Gazebo

The British weather is known to be fickle and the need for a some protection from the elements led to the building of this ornate shelter that looks out on to Bridlington's Harbour and bay. The view in this direction gives no clue to the tower block lurking directly behind; the views from those windows must be spectacular.

More tea, anyone?

Here on Bridlington's South Marine Drive is a device whereby parents can spin their little darlings round and round in a giant teacup. I'm told the mental scars from this wear off over time so grin and bear it; it's meant to be fun!