Sunday 9 October 2011
Saturday 8 October 2011
Friday 7 October 2011
Thursday 6 October 2011
Wednesday 5 October 2011
Parliament Street
This is Parliament Street an elegant collection of fine Georgian houses. The construction of this street required an act of Parliament (hence the name) and was the start of the end of the old mediaeval layout of Hull as it cut through old buildings and alleyways to the town walls which were in the process of being demolished to make way for a new dock. Nowadays the street houses law firms and recruitment agencies.
Tuesday 4 October 2011
Monday 3 October 2011
Linking the Gods to Humanity
Sitting high above the entrance to the central library is this little statue. I think it's meant to be the goddess Iris, a messenger of the gods. Homer ( the Greek one not the fat yellow American one) says "And now Iris, fleet as the wind, was sent by Jove to tell the bad news among the Trojans"; bit of a come down, then, to be stuck in Hull
Sunday 2 October 2011
Saturday 1 October 2011
What's that?
You can find out here.
There'll no doubt be more mysterious objects over at City Daily Photos monthly theme. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants
Friday 30 September 2011
Blame It on the Bossa Nova
There will be no more salsa nights at Pier Luigi's since it closed in October last year, a victim of the recession and the banksters' greed. I passed it the other day and this was the only sign of the once thriving Italian restaurant on Princes Avenue. The builders had moved in and were busy 'doing up' the place.
Thursday 29 September 2011
The Albert Memorial
If you scroll down to yesterday's posting you'll see a statue of a young Queen Victoria looking slightly to her left no doubt trying to glimpse her beloved Albert who stands fifty or so yards away and hidden by some shrubbery. The plaque is a fine example of Victorian oleaginous sycophancy. The statue was erected in 1868, seven years after the one to Queen Vic. You'd have thought they'd have put them closer together, poor old girl must have a crick in her neck after all these years.
Wednesday 28 September 2011
Tuesday 27 September 2011
Boom Town
A recent report stated that one in four shops in Hull were closed. Here on King Edward Street half the shops on this side are closed and showing no sign of being opened in the near future. To darken the economic skies further nearly 900 well paid engineering jobs are to be lost at a nearby BAE factory. North Hull has the highest ratio of jobseekers to opportunities in the country. Still to come the effects of the government's austerity measurements....Oh yeah, Hull is booming.
Something brighter tomorrow... jam perhaps.
Something brighter tomorrow... jam perhaps.
Monday 26 September 2011
Sunday 25 September 2011
Saturday 24 September 2011
Finishing Touches
Here at last the nearly completed Wilbeforce Health Centre. I showed you the plans and the initial construction here and here. Now they're putting the finishing touches to what is, in my humble opinion, quite possibly the ugliest building in town. I can't help but wonder whether that ghastly red pillar symbolises the bleeding dry of the NHS by wasteful projects such as this.
Friday 23 September 2011
Amy, wonderful Amy ....
Here's a Hull heroine, Amy Johnson, captured in Portland stone.In the days when flights to far off places were headline news Amy Johnson was the star, flying off to Australia and South Africa breaking records all the while. In those days before 24 hour news and internet madness this was really big news with huge crowds gathering to see a plane land. I've managed to find a video which shows the enthusiasm for aviation in those days and also that English was spoken with terribly clipped vowels sounds almost like a foreign language.
There's also a song that demonstrates that music was no better then than now.
There's also a song that demonstrates that music was no better then than now.
Thursday 22 September 2011
Wednesday 21 September 2011
Beverley Road Public Baths
A fine example of Edwardian civic pride on display here. Not one but two domes all copper; there's posh. Opened in 1905 the baths served two purposes, recreational and hygenic. Many of the surrounding houses lacked bathrooms and so residents used the excellent slipper baths which were still in use in the 1980s; I know, I used to use them and very nice they were too! The swimming pool was used at one time for the preservation of an ancient wooden boat that was found on the shores of the Humber, there a link here. A campaign to save the baths from demolition in the 1990s was successful and they were renovated and are now in constant use; the council have a page here. There's a bit more about the building here.
Tuesday 20 September 2011
Monday 19 September 2011
Drop Zone
Here's the rich brown river Hull near the entrance to the old Victoria Dock. It's fairly notorious as a place where those of an unsteady gait are prone to fall in the water and get stuck in that glorious mud. There are calls to erect a fence but I feel that would end a long tradition of mocking the misfortunes of others.
Sunday 18 September 2011
A welcoming face?
This splendidly cross-eyed face peers out over the entrance to the old Westwood workhouse and infirmary in Beverley, a place where the poor and destitute were housed and put to work. Over the years the workhouse was closed and the infirmary became a NHS hospital. Despite intense local opposition the hospital is due to close and be replaced by a new state of the art building which I bet will not have a sculpture like this welcoming patients.
Saturday 17 September 2011
Friday 16 September 2011
Thursday 15 September 2011
Can we have our statue back please?
In an outrageous attack on civlised values a small group of lowlifes stole the statue Voyage from its plinth during the Summer. At over 300kg it's reckoned to be worth about £1200 in scrap so if you're in a pub and a dodgy looking guy offers you a bronze statue cheap you know who to call.
Wednesday 14 September 2011
Prinny Ave
Here's Princes Avenue or Prinny Ave as it is usually called. Is it just a Hull thing to abbreviate names of streets? So Cottingham Road becomes Cott Road and Beverley Road is Bev Road.
At one time there were no pubs or cafes on this street now it the place for 'continental style' eating out with ten or so establishments. It does not have the bad reputation that the city centre has for loutish behaviour and as a consequence is quite a popular area.
At one time there were no pubs or cafes on this street now it the place for 'continental style' eating out with ten or so establishments. It does not have the bad reputation that the city centre has for loutish behaviour and as a consequence is quite a popular area.
Tuesday 13 September 2011
Three heads are better than one
This curious carving is on Cottingham's church. I'm guessing it had deep meaning when originally carved possibly something theological (the old three-in-one trick) or perhaps it symbolises some mediaeval merchant banker capable of saying three conflicting statements while looking out for number one. Hmmm.
Monday 12 September 2011
Sunday 11 September 2011
Look thy last on all things lovely
Just off Hallgate there's a small garden with seats and ringed by trees and bushes. It was built as a memorial for the dead of two world wars. It's a nice place to sit for a few minutes and get away from the hurly burly of Cottingham life. Has Cottingham ever had a hurly or even a burly?
Now, however, many of the trees are to be removed. OK some of them are diseased like this cherry but some are being cut down for the sin of having grown too tall and some plum trees are guilty of growing plums which then fall on the path.They've been doing that for 80 or more years but someone's just noticed and complained. It's a shame but then we all know what councils are like.
Now, however, many of the trees are to be removed. OK some of them are diseased like this cherry but some are being cut down for the sin of having grown too tall and some plum trees are guilty of growing plums which then fall on the path.They've been doing that for 80 or more years but someone's just noticed and complained. It's a shame but then we all know what councils are like.
Saturday 10 September 2011
Friday 9 September 2011
Thursday 8 September 2011
Bridlington Promenade
Wednesday 7 September 2011
Tuesday 6 September 2011
Taking Liberties
Here's what's left of Pearson Park gates. They were put up in the 1860s when carriages had a horse or two in front of them and well-to-do folks lived in those town houses that line the approach. Now the horses and the money have gone.What you see here are the skeletal remains of a fine set of Victorian iron gates that once had fancy decorations on top and actual gates (see here). The gates went in the last war I'm guessing and the fancy decoration was rmoved by Hull council in a fit of health & safety vandalism and stupidity sometime in the 70s.
***
Now for a totally separate issue. It has come to my notice that the domain directrss.co.il is using the RSS feed from this site and probably from other blogs to make virtually a direct copy only with their advertising. I don't mind people "borrowing" a picture or two but to copy the whole blog is taking liberties. I have reported these offenders to Blogger. If anyone finds their site has been used likewise I suggest they report the matter as well. The following message is for the owners of directrss.co.il.
אתר זה מוגן בזכויות יוצרים ואתה הפרת זכויות היוצרים שלי.
***
Now for a totally separate issue. It has come to my notice that the domain directrss.co.il is using the RSS feed from this site and probably from other blogs to make virtually a direct copy only with their advertising. I don't mind people "borrowing" a picture or two but to copy the whole blog is taking liberties. I have reported these offenders to Blogger. If anyone finds their site has been used likewise I suggest they report the matter as well. The following message is for the owners of directrss.co.il.
אתר זה מוגן בזכויות יוצרים ואתה הפרת זכויות היוצרים שלי.
Sunday 4 September 2011
Friday 2 September 2011
The Sick Rose
O Rose, thou art sick!
The invisible worm
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm,
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.
The invisible worm
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm,
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.
William Blake
Across the road from the Bull is one of Hull's many closed pubs. This one has a history of attracting what can only be called a bohemian clientele, thieves, drunkards, imps, pimps and banjo players. Finally the landlords helped themselves to the takings. The observant will notice it is on the corner of Park Lane; this is one of Hull's little jokes, Mayfair is just up the road; as you can see it's more Old Kent Road.
Thursday 1 September 2011
Local Perspective
This is the West Bulls (is a bull theme developing here?) which is at the end of my street and which you might call my local if I ever went into such establishments.
Other perspectives are on view here.
Wednesday 31 August 2011
Monday 29 August 2011
Ray
Funny how things can surround you without them being noticed. Take this pavement art; been sitting on the river front for nearly twenty years but I only noticed it the other day. It's part of a sculpture trail called 'The Seven Seas Fish Pavement' sponsored by a local fish oil processor. You can find more information here and some kind (possibly sad) soul has investigated the geology of the sculptures so for all you rock fans there's a link here.
Friday 26 August 2011
Step this way for the Dinosaur Experience
On the corner of Humber Street and Queen Street, a part of town that makes run down seem upmarket, there's Dinostar, a Dinosaur Shop and Museum. Don't ask me what goes on in there as when I was there they were doing it up but it claims to be "Yorkshire's only dinosaur visitor attraction" so that's something I guess.
Thursday 25 August 2011
Monday 25 April 2011
Sunday 24 April 2011
Saturday 23 April 2011
Blocks of colour
At some stage in the early 1960s council house strategy changed from building estates of houses to putting one house on top of another in a tower. Central government subsidised tower blocks, the higher the block the bigger the grant. So it's no surprise to find inner cities filled with high rise accommodation. Hull has a fair few of these buildings; the ones on the outer estates are destined for demolition soon. This pair on Great Thornton Street are relative small and seem to have been painted in gaudy colours, perhaps the contractor had a job lot of cheap paint.
Friday 22 April 2011
War & wooly hats
This is Hull's memorial to the dead of the Boer Wars , behind it is the much larger but less interesting memorial to the World War dead. Practically every town and village in the country has a war memorial of some sort and every November people stand there with their wreaths and flags and so on. Doesn't seem to stop any wars nor does it stop the killing. Since the end of WW2 there has been only one year in which there were no deaths of British soldiers on active service.
This statue is well liked by the people of Hull. It was unveiled in a fancy ceremony in 1904. (There are pictures here). In really cold weather kind souls often adorn the soldiers' heads with wooly hats to keep them warm. It doesn't get more dulce et decorum.
This statue is well liked by the people of Hull. It was unveiled in a fancy ceremony in 1904. (There are pictures here). In really cold weather kind souls often adorn the soldiers' heads with wooly hats to keep them warm. It doesn't get more dulce et decorum.
Thursday 21 April 2011
Beverley Beck
Beverley Beck connects Beverley with the River Hull and so on to the rest of the world. The town was a trading post of the Hanseatic League so this little creek would once have had traders from all over northern Europe. Modern housing developments have replaced the old tanneries that lined the beckside. The barge you can see is the Syntan which featured previously here.
Wednesday 20 April 2011
A diddling thing
Imagine spending months onboard a whaling ship with no internet, TV or newspapers. It might seem like bliss but eventually the desire to do something will take over and as it's a whaling ship there's plenty of bits of whale to play with. So it was that scrimshaw came about, the art of making stuff with whalebits. The label in the museum says its a winder for wool but I doubt it has ever been used for such a mundane task; no, it's function is simply to be made.
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