Britannia For Sale

How long have I lived in Hull? Thirty plus years and still I find something I've never seen before. Way up on top of a building at the corner of Bowlalley Lane and Lowgate I found this eroding Britannia peering down at me. The building is your run-of-the-mill Victorian office block turned (inevitably) into a public house. It must have had some importance for a whopping stone statue to be stuck on top but times have changed and now I wonder what Britannia makes of the Barracuda Bar.

 Just noticed the For Sale sign so here's yet another investment opportunity in Hull.

PS & Update: It seems I've come here with half a story. After a little bit of research and a friendly Tweet I find that this building was once a courthouse and before that a public exchange. Now being a law court would explain the Britannia statue. It's Grade 2 listed and details of its architecture can be found here.

In case of emergency

I don't know what sort response you'd get if you tried to use this antique device on High Street. It's outside what used to be the head office of Humberside Police Authority now up for sale since the 'election' last year of  a new Police and Crime Commissioner for Humberside. He wants somewhere more modest in keeping, no doubt, with his modest mandate (90% didn't vote for him).  May I suggest a shed? The building was built in 1899 as a trading exchange for the corn, flour and seed crushing industries. It can be yours for a mere snip of £425,000.

Cod

After yesterday's mammoth posting here's something simpler. Here's another of those piscatorial pavement plaques, this one lies near to the Hull hole at the end of Whitefriargate. 

Pictures from a demonstration

A cold wet Saturday afternoon in March was perhaps not the best sort of day to launch a nationwide protest against the introduction of  the loathed Bedroom Tax. Around 250 turned up nevertheless at this rally in Queens Gardens. They were part of nearly 60 such meetings across the country involving about 13000 people. Not earth shattering numbers I agree but it's a start. If I'm honest I don't think rallies like this and bigger marches planned for later on will have much effect on this Government which seems to have beans in its ears. I hope it does but I'm not holding my breath.

A quick note on media response. The Sunday People had printed out hundreds of placards for these meetings. They, along with the Daily Mirror, strongly back this protest so there's a bias alert on anything they say. The reporting in the press and on TV varied from outright ignoral through  under reporting (shame on you Hull Daily Mail for saying there were "more than 60" attending this rally); the local TV stations had short and reasonably accurate reports. But then I've read newspaper reports of football matches I've attended and they even got the score wrong so any report is a  bonus I guess.

There were a couple of people wearing similar masks, I would have thought to point of the demonstration was to show your face and be counted but maybe I'm old fashioned.

Here's local Labour MP Karl Turner having his say before one of the local TV stations. He's a barrister; does it show?

And when the speakers begin to drag, as they do, you can always admire the hellebores as opposed to the other bores.

And where there's a crowd it obviously needs policing. I have to say this is as close as the police got. The sergeant in the car was probably the driest and warmest person in Hull city centre yesterday and that's why he's a sergeant.

Musical Arches

Taking some shelter from a snow shower the other day I stumbled across this passage off High Street leading to the river. The old warehouses are now home to Hull College's Performing Arts, Music and Media Department which would account for the music I heard while taking these shots.

You can find more monochrome images at the Weekend in Black & White .

Ye Olde Corn Exchange

Nothing about the name of this pub is quite what it seems. In the good old days of 1788 it was called the "Excise Coffee House". It only became "Ye Olde Corn Exchange" in the early 1800's; an early example of trading on a false past no doubt. (The real old corn exchange was on High Street; one day I'll get a picture of that.) It stands on the north side of Holy Trinity church at the junction with Market Place. The weird lighting is due to reflections from an ugly 1970's office building behind me which has bronzed mirrored windows that cast a fine glow as the sun catches them.

Colourful Doorway

Behind these doors on Chanterlands Avenue there's a small garden centre. I think it's a safe bet that the same guy also decorated their van which I showed last year.

Trouble brewing

On the right St Mary's, Lowgate part of the Church of England which increasingly becomes irrelevant and absurd. It likes to think it is important because the State likes to appear to have 'religion' but no-one takes them seriously and haven't for centuries. To the left the old central Post Office now apartments for those who like to live in converted offices. 

The decline of the C of E and the inevitable privatisation of the Royal Mail are insignificant to the events going on elsewhere. In the middle of the picture the Guildhall once the seat of local democracy is now a vehicle for this repressive Government's policies. Local government in this country has been a castrated beast for thirty years or more with powers being centralised to Whitehall. Now the beast is being asked to do the dirty work for this unmandated Government. Hull Council say they have to sack 600 workers due a cut in grants from central Government (you see how the beast was robbed of its power now, local Government cannot raise funds independently, no money no power). But there's more and worse,  much worse to come. From April benefit receivers who used to get full Council Tax relief will now have to pay a percentage of that tax. In Hull that's 8% but in East Riding  of Yorkshire, where I live, it's at least 25%! On top of that there's the introduction of the Bedroom Tax. Housing Benefit to social housing tenants will be cut if it is deemed that there are too many bedrooms. This means for many tenants that they can no longer afford to live in their homes, homes that they've occupied for years in many cases. People with disabilities are going to have to move out of properties that have been converted to accommodate their needs. And so and so on. You get the picture; it's a nightmare for these people and it's going to lead to unrest. The Government which no-one voted for and which has presided over the longest recession ever in this country's history is passing the bill for the crimes of the bankers onto the poorest in the land while giving tax cuts to the rich (Up to £100,000 for millionaires, we can't have them and their entrepreneurial talents leave the country now, can we? How would we manage without them?). Well we shall see who pays in the end. 

Candlemas Day was clear and bright ...

...So Winter is having another bite.

A snowy flurry on Bishop Lane Staithe which in better times looks like this.

Hardy Souls

This was taken last week when the fog rolled in from the Humber. Temperature then was a balmy 3 or 4C. Today it's 0C with a wind that makes it feel like -3 or -4C and there's a dusting of snow to cheer things up.

22 & 23

Here's a detail above a doorway on Silver Street. I don't know what the building was built as in 1886 but now it houses a hairdresser.

More monochrome images at the Weekend in Black & White.

Giving York a hug

This plaque is high up on what used to be Barclay's bank at the corner of Silver Street and Trinity House Lane. It probably goes unnoticed by the vast majority of folks. If they did notice it and were familiar with heraldic coats of arms they  might wonder why some misty eyed maid was hugging the shield of the city of York. The bank, as is the way of things these days, is now a public house named after a member of one of Hull's old banking families William Wilberforce.

England's smallest window

I know you've always wondered just where is the smallest window in England so I'll put you out of your misery. Here it is in the magical Land of Green Ginger. Click on the image to enlarge and the plaque explains it all. Now I wonder if it's double glazed ....

Right Bleeding Shambles

With losses of over£5 billion this 'financial institution' still managed to pay out 'bonuses' of over £600 million. The capo di tutti capi at the Bank of England has called for it to be cut into little pieces and thrown to the wolves saying in effect that four years of public mollycoddling have had no noticeable effect on this criminal enterprise. Today I note that their ATMs have failed again ...

The dog tied up outside this Silver Street branch had the loudest howl of any dog I've heard. I'd howl if I was a customer of this place.

Good old fashioned fog

Spurn Lightship from Castle Street

A strange sort of day yesterday; one minute I was taking pictures in clear blue sunny conditions then I walked a few yards towards Castle Street and into one of the thickest fogs I've seen for a long time. With visibility down to around twenty yards thankfully there was no air pollution to turn it into a pea souper. Undeterred by the lack of light or indeed subject I managed a handful of shots of the gloom.

Marina

Victoria pier from the Horse Wash

Keep Fit

I don't know what it is about keep fit gyms; you don't see any for what seems like half a life time then two spring up practically together. Must be something in the air of Clough Road. Am I being a bit naive to suggest that instead of driving to these places they took a walk instead they'd be just as fit and £9.99/month richer?

Old Gasometer

If you go through the gates shown in yesterday's post and follow the road round a short way you come across this old gas tank. I've shown it before [ 1 ] but I think it's worth another shot. This is still an active gas supply depot and there's a disconcerting loud hissing noise, as of escaping gas, coming from the pipes on the left but I suppose they know what they're doing.

Taken by Margot K Juby

Short and sweet

Off Clough Road near the new police station is this possible contender for the shortest cycle lane award.

Road works on Chants Ave

I mentioned last year about a major road works scheme in west Hull that involved laying miles of electric cable through the busiest roads. The tailbacks became the stuff of legends. Well finally they finished and all seemed well until this cropped up on Chanterlands Avenue (or Chants Ave.). At least when I went past there were actual men doing actual work rather than just a hole in the ground and no sign of life. 

This bridge, which always has some interesting graffiti on it, was the scene of some dramatic flooding during the downpour of June 2007 with water well over the raised pavements. It was here that someone with a  sense of adventure greater than their sense of filth and sewage went surf boarding in what for me is the iconic image of those events. 

Keep Britain Tidy

"Animals are crapping in our houses, and we're picking it up. Did we lose a war? That's not America. That's not even Mexico." - Homer Simpson

There's supposed to be a fine for allowing your pet to foul the pavement but I've never, ever read of anyone being prosecuted.

Other bloggers at City Daily Photo are having their theme day on Cafe Chairs, you can see what they make of this here.

Timeless

Our local monumental masons, I like their numberplate.

Dram Shop

On the corner of George Street and Savile Street the Dram Shop has somehow survived the attentions of  the Luftwaffe and later city planners.

Five-a-day

With the recent discovery that horses can be made to look like cows I suspect that there is nothing quite so big as the smug smile on vegetarians' faces. As far as I know this is the only greengrocer's shop in the centre of Hull and apart from one or two stalls in the covered market supermarkets have taken over completely.

Hull Tidal Barrier

I'm posting this on Tuesday because Monday didn't happen. Tuesday isn't looking to be much of a day either ...

More Winter Trees

East Park, Hull

East wind

Weather vane on Ferensway

“The East Wind, an interloper in the dominions of Westerly Weather, is an impassive-faced tyrant with a sharp poniard held behind his back for a treacherous stab.”  Joseph Conrad

High pressure over Scandinavia is drawing around an easterly wind that, we are are informed, comes all the way from Siberia. I know a wind chill of -2C is but a balmy day for some hardy folk but for a soft Englishman like myself it cuts through to the bone.

Old and new

So here we range from a 14th century church (the same church that appears in the header of this blog) through an early 1900's market tower with cupola to a 1970's car park and even newer offices. It might not but much of a view but when or if that 18 storey hotel goes up it will be lost and buildings that are,even if not attractive, at least on a human scale will be dwarfed.

1 Timothy 5:18

Yesterday's figures  from our mendacious government claim a reduction in dole claimants. It is a fact not widely known that unemployed people who are placed on work related activities (workfare) are classed as being no longer unemployed. This sleight of hand, or lie if you will, instantly reduces the figures. The figures also hide the massive under-employment in this country with millions in part-time work. There is, of course, massive resentment at the use of unpaid labour in commercial firms but perhaps the biggest ire is aimed at charities taking on so-called volunteers who are nothing of the sort and cannot leave for fear of losing benefits for up to three years. Thankfully many firms and charities have withdrawn from the scheme. There are many small protests up and down the country about this but I suspect that when the diabolical changes to housing benefit and council tax benefit come into effect in April we shall see massive protests.

Today's image is part of a dozen or so on a wall facing the river showing trades and skills from the past. It shows a navvy who would never have dreamt of working for no pay.

Toys "Я" Them

I don't know what children make of this big impersonal toy supermarket. Clearly it's not aimed at them but at their parent's wallets. Still the sign's colourful. 

High hopes on High Street

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a plot of land standing idle must be in want of a hotel. So this site between High Street and the river has been earmarked for an "iconic" 22 storey hotel and conference centre [ 1 ].  Well in the intervening six months 22 has become 18 and no doubt by the time it ever gets built it'll be 5 or 6. Here's an impression of the latest scheme, it's a wonderful box shape don't you think, so original and so in keeping with the area. Readers with long memories may recall a proposal I mentioned to build a hotel complex a little further up the river at Clarence Mill two years ago almost to the day [ 2 ]; well nothing has come of that little plan either.

Ogre

This handsome fellow guards the entrance to a cattery that claims to have 'luxury holiday chalets for cats'. I've seen the website and I wouldn't let my cats go there; they'd never want to come back. It's on Long Lane between Cottingham and Beverley.

Neptune sunk

In March last year I posted about the installation of this tidal power generator [ 1 ]. Sadly earlier this month the company running it announced that it had gone into liquidation [ 2 ]. It seems the use of a vertical turbine was technically flawed and unsuitable for commercial use. It's one of those instances were the small scale models gave misleadingly optimistic results that the full scale could not deliver. This is a considerable setback to the development of tidal power on the Humber. 

With the gods on their side

At the end of January I showed a silhouette of this figure in Queen Victoria Square [ 1 ]. Well here's a proper look at this piece of Edwardian nonsense. Their sense of imperial might had clouded their judgement and they have slipped back into Roman times, City Hall in the background with its columns and cupola is a fine piece of a classical wannabe. This is clearly one of Neptune's little helpers giving a guiding hand to British shipping. If this reflected the mindset of the powers that be in 1903 what are we to make of the leafy ball that is planned for close by?

There's more monchrome madness at the Weekend in Black and White here.

Two men in a boat

What to do in Hull to while away an hour in a February snow shower... why not try a visit to the Hull & East Riding Museum? During those sixty short minutes you can go back 235 million years, come face to face with a woolly mammoth, walk by iron age swords, Roman mosaics, Saxon invaders and on to the siege of Hull in the civil war. If you like your history in bite sized morsels and over quickly this is the place for you.

These two well endowed figures were found in Roos Carr in East Yorkshire in the 1830's. Victorians being what they were thought the genitals, which are detachable, were short arms; when they eventually worked out what was what they kept them hidden. The figures are 2,600 years old and made of yew. As far I know no-one knows much what purpose they served or why they were left. There's more about this here. 

A little bit of snow

Silver Street, Hull

Foolishly I invited the wrath of the gods when I mentioned that Spring might be on its way a couple of days ago. Well that'll larn me! A strong icy cold, nithering easterly wind with snow made it distinctly unpleasant in town yesterday. Truth be told there wasn't much snow and it's forecast to warm up again during the week but I'm saying nothing more about Spring or anything along those lines.

Non-starter

One picture, two stories. First the on-going non-operation of the new footbridge, as you can see nothing has happened since I last reported in November [ 1 ]. The bridge is ready to rock as they say; both sides of the river have been landscaped and prepared but it just sits there like some beached whale. No-one has any idea when it will open or if they do they aren't saying. I suspect that like most things money or the lack thereof  lies at the bottom of this saga. Money lies at the bottom of the second story too. There have been calls to dredge the river to improve flood defenses. You can see how silted up it's becoming; where that mud is ships once berthed. A figure of £14.6 million was picked out of a hat (where else do they get these figures from?). Fortunately wiser counsels have said it would make little or no difference to water levels in Hull so that  scheme looks like a non-starter. Hull is very good at non-starting.