As the Parisian Pont des Arts padlock affair came to a close the other week so a new one springs up here at the Victoria Pier. These, as far as I can tell, are unlike the French version not symbols of undying love but acts of remembrance to lost family members, not so much matched as dispatched shall we say. There are wreaths and little cards with those sickly doggerel verses that accompany death notices in newspapers. This is a most unwelcome development and symptomatic of the increasing desire for public displays of 'grief'. The place, which attracts many visitors for its views across and along the Humber, is in danger of becoming a morbid eyesore.
There is a habit here, particularly with cyclists who die, of creating roadside memorials. There's one of them not far from where I live that's been there a couple of years now. I really don't get it. It's not their own private space, and it becomes visual clutter- which can be very distracting to drivers.
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