Now don't rush into anything ...

Corporation Pier, Hull

A year and three months after it was damaged by an extraordinary high tide there appears at long last to be some movement towards a repair to Corporation Pier (or Victoria Pier if you like). Some very large beams have appeared. Maybe they've been waiting for the trees to grow.

Those who like watching paint dry might like these two previous posts here and here.

The weekend in black and white is here.

Jobsworth

St Mary, Lowgate, Hull

jobsworth
ˈdʒɒbzwəːθ/
noun BRITISH informal
an official who upholds petty rules even at the expense of humanity or common sense.

Imagine how it might be then after feeding hot food to poor people who would otherwise be looking in dumpsters and bins for cast-offs, to be told that you cannot do this because of some regulation about food safety. So it was with St Mary's, Lowgate where the Council shot itself in the foot once again by denying a charitable organisation permission to serve hot meals to the homeless and poor because the food was prepared in unregistered homes and then brought to the church to be served. The vicar was threatened with prosecution for carrying out charitable works!

These days you cannot even give hot food away now without being registered by the Council no doubt with a fee to pay annually and with inspections. The so-called customers (no money is involved) might get food poisoning it is claimed, it goes without saying the Council does nothing about the hygiene of dumpsters. So it was to be sandwiches and cups of tea until proper facilities could be found which, given the flood of outrage this caused amongst the good folk of Hull, was not too long. A nearby café has offered the use of its kitchen so normal service has been resumed.
Meanwhile, and here the C of E really does not do irony, just a hundred yards or so down the road £4.5 million is being sought to build a restaurant in Holy Trinity church.

Further development

And while we're in the vicinity of Paragon Street I suppose I'd better mention the opening of this Nisa store in what had been a long vacant shop that I posted about sometime ago. There's a trend for smaller supermarkets in town these days, Tesco opened one in the Summer and Sainsburys are making a comeback as I mentioned the other day and I've heard yet another discount "pound" shop is to open as well. So it's no longer exactly all doom and gloom in town anymore but I wouldn't go so far as to say we have a full recovery, let's say the patient is still seriously ill but stable...

Change of use

Paragon Street, Hull

In what appears to be a remarkable outbreak of common sense Lloyd's Bank is moving from its position on Paragon Street to a new place round the corner on Jameson Street. Yeah wow, I know, exciting (not). But bear with me, the old place along with the empty former Job Centre next door is being converted into apartments with affordable rents. Bringing people to live in the town centre, occupying these large empty shops and offices has got to be a 'good thing'. If the scheme succeeds there are plenty of similar buildings that could be used in this way. Whisper it gently though, this is social housing (if by proxy), with a not-for-profit trust and the Council owned builders firm involved under a Government project to bring empty buildings back into use. And it only tickles the surface of the massive housing shortage crisis in this green and pleasant land, still the journey of a thousand miles begins by putting your shoes on as someone once said.

Jameson Street, Hull

The return of Sainsbury's

This corner building on Jameson Street was once a post office with BBC Radio Humberside occupying the upper floors. Well the post office moved into W H Smith's and the BBC built itself a little palace and this building has been mainly empty for ages. Now Sainsbury's have recognized the error of moving out of their town centre store and are opening a new place here and as an added bonus there's to be a Secret Garden Café on top. Well not so secret now ...

Ocean Chambers. Lowgate

Well the doorway was open so I did not resist the temptation to have a sneaky peak inside. This is Ocean Chambers on Lowgate built in 1900 in what is called a baroque revival style. It has some pretty fancy detailing including this cartouche with attending dolphins. I'm assuming from the name that it had some maritime/shipping connection originally, now it's the offices of a law firm.

Red Machine

Exchange Court, Hull