Sheer bloody madness

 “Doubt is an uncomfortable condition, but certainty is a ridiculous one.”

So, at last, the Government decides to close the pubs and clubs along with the schools. Monday will see legislation put before Parliament that could take away our civil liberties for a period of two years. It will only be a matter of time before they lock us all up in our homes like Italy, France and Spain. This is all for our own good you understand, it always is. Two years!!! We're sleepwalking into a trap, gliding peacefully down the slope that inevitably leads to  tyranny; with the decoy of a supposed pandemic (the annual flu has killed more this winter and does so every winter and no-one said a thing) and a willfully crashed economy (the Government is giving away money like they stole it which they have, I suppose) small businesses closing and shops that cannot cope with panic demand (shortages of staples bread, meat and milk, I can, however, still buy the newspapers it is not total barbarity out there, yet). In all this there seems no voice defending reason, no voice saying this is completely wrong, nobody questioning or doubting the official line, nobody at all ... It is collective insanity, sheer bloody madness. It will not end well.

The Orange Barrier Man

Someone has to have the job of taking away all those friendly barriers that have corralled and shepherded us these past months and here is that someone wearing suitable camouflage.

Middle of the road

I know it's been a while since I mainlined you with visions of orange barriers so you're possibly feeling mild withdrawal symptoms. Fear not these colourful additions to the townscape will be around for quite a few months more. We are promised completion in December and then again in March next year. Yeah, I know, two completion dates in case one makes you sick.

Boys with the blackstuff

Carr Lane on Thursday was an unusual hive of activity as the rush was on to reopen it for Monday. Lorries of tarmac were queuing up and this guy was having fun dumping the old blackstuff on the newly repaired surface while another flattened it with a roller. The road has been completely closed since March and everyone will be glad to see it reopen, yes even me.

Labyrinthine mess

The closure of Carr Lane has extended the feeling that the town centre is really becoming a labyrinth at the heart of which lies not some half-man half bull but just some crazed substance abusing town planner who is full of the brown smelly stuff.

Below the magnificent workforce are holding a prayer meeting before carrying out the sacred work of civic destruction, or maybe it was just a pep talk in how to drag the job out for as long as possible.

Of course you can't make omelettes without breaking eggs or it seems brave new worlds without cutting down half a dozen perfectly healthy alders to make way for the addled dreams of the town planner.

Heaping Pelion upon Ossa

“Ter sunt conati imponere Pelio Ossam”.
                                                          Virgil

The Greek myths tell of  giants waging a war on the gods and in an effort to destroy the home of the gods they pile one mountain on another. These days, of course, there are no giants and no gods either. Just the midgets and minnows of the Council who are seemingly waging an undeclared war, not on heaven but on Hull itself. The opening front of this stadtkrieg involves ripping all the pedestrianised areas up in order to lay new paving stones with fountains (they will no doubt squirt you for the sake of civic virtue). The supposed enemy, reeling from this blitz, are then faced with a flanking manoeuvre; the closure for refurbishment of Carr Lane. Ah yes the timing of this assault is exquisite, that is to say, exquisitely awful..
So there'll be four months (better make that five you know how things go round these parts) of upheaval, 32 buses per hour rerouted, pedestrians rerouted, shops made inaccessible in the usual Hull way of cacking things up. I'm looking forward to the inevitable epic gridlocks that will happen; it's bad enough at the best of times. My bus doesn't go down there but, things being the way they are, one little niggle in a road and the whole godforsaken place grinds to a halt. Oh it's going to be so much fun ... but when it's all done there'll be silver paving stones, the road will glisten with gold and people will dance gaily in the brave new world while minstrels will sing songs of praise to the glorious Council.
But as Virgil says three times they tried to pile Pelion on Ossa  ... ah yes the works already carried out in Jameson Street are having to be ripped up and reinstalled because there were "defective".

And while I'm here, and on a roll, I may as well mention the Ferens art gallery, on the left,  is also being done up to make it able to meet the demands of modern day art exhibitions (the Turner Prize for example), the bill for this just recently went up by a cool half mil to £2.8 million. Kerching!

"Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat" as no-body ever said.

The Grasshopper Store

Although there quite a few Polish and Eastern European stores dotted around the outskirts of town especially on Beverley Road and Newland Avenue there are very few in the town centre itself. This one named Pasikonik or Grasshopper is on Carr Lane. It's a welcome addition to Hull's shops and provides an alternative to the uniform fare offered by the the chain stores Sainsbury's, Tesco and so on. I hope we see more like this. If only so I can get my Polskie piwa when in town!

"Buses are running well late"

Carr Lane

I was in town this afternoon on a spot of business and ran into a classic Hull gridlock with buses backed up on Carr Lane, Ferensway full in both directions and Anlaby Road looking like a no-go area as well. Marvellous! And not helped by the road works I mentioned  a week ago. The title is what I overheard a bus company man saying to a frustrated passenger. My bus home took 15 minutes to do 300 yards just leaving the station, even I can walk faster than that with my gammy leg and all.

Ferensway

Junction Carr Lane, Ferensway and Anlaby Road

Carr Lane at sundown

That bus, the number 35, will go on down that road towards the setting sun until it reaches Willerby which I am told is the undiscover'd country, from whose bourn no traveller returns, at least not without a ticket.

Komplete Control

The local phone/internet company's building has had a bit of a makeover. It used to look like this. Hardly a stunning improvement.

Readers of this blog may be aware that the local football ground is called the KC Stadium. Last week this local monopoly entered into a deal with Hull Kingston Rovers (a rugby league club, m'lud) and in so doing the name of HKR's ground, Craven Park, will now become KC Lightstream Stadium. Coming soon the deal to change Carr Lane to KC Street and Hull to KC City of Culture (it's already happening here).

Punch Hotel

The Punch was originally built in the 1840's ( see old photo here ) but was demolished and rebuilt in grand style in 1896. The exterior is covered in ceramic tiling to give a highly decorative effect. It sits on the corner of Queen Victoria Square between the Ferens art gallery and Carr Lane's 20th century excrescences. 

Carr Lane

The word 'carr' is derived from old Norse kjarr, meaning swamp, and is a waterlogged wooded terrain, a stage in the transformation of wetland to forest. Carr Lane runs west from Queen Victoria Square and its name is a reminder that Hull was once surrounded by boggy marsh land. What you see here is the main entrance to Princes Quay shopping centre and, to the right, a fine example of 1970's brutalist architecture. Such is the fickle nature of fashion that I can imagine some blogger in the future lamenting its loss.