Gee but it's great to be back home

Maritime Museum

Right, so back in the city of culture a few buildings in the town appear to be illuminated in ever changing colours. This may have been a Xmas thing I wouldn't know; I haven't been back into town since a week or so before that damnable day. I shop out of town and fancy (and expensive, no doubt) lighting, expensive son et lumière shows (no matter how spectacular) and other fripperies aren't going to get me on the bus into town.

Sudden Elegancies

Hull has its own sudden elegancies.

Philip Larkin 

The fiddling around by the Council with Queen's Gardens does mean that there is this view of the Maritime Museum, the fountain and City Hall in the distance.

Finishing Touches

The public works were due to be finished today but to no-one's great surprise some bits and bobs are running a tad late. So we'll have to wait till mid-April for the fancy fountains in Queen Vicky Square; such a shame as I was really, really, really looking forward to them .......

The elephant in the room

Hull was and still is to some extent noted for its fine Victorian and Edwardian architecture, though many buildings were demolished in the War and shortly after to make way for 1950's drabness. Some of the finest remaining buildings are here in Queen Victoria Square.

The statement from our sponsors

The City of Culture thing is under way as I may have mentioned. The year is being financed by 'partners' or sponsors in common parlance. The old saying "he who pays the piper calls the tune" mostly definitely applies to what you see before you. Siemens manufacture wind turbines in an old dock out in the badlands of east Hull and being a major sponsor, sorry partner, they get to plonk, sorry (again) tastefully place their produce in the town square. Oh to be sure it's officially a sculpture or an installation or whatever by the name of "The Blade" but anyone can see this is just product placement gone barmy. I won't bore you with statistics of size and weight and so on since I know you won't be impressed, let's just say it's big and intrusive and leave it at that. And you certainly don't want to know how it got here, let's just say the fairies left it overnight. The natives, however, seem mightily pleased with their gift from the gods and go up to it and touch it as if it wasn't real, all very odd, still if it keeps them happy I suppose it does no harm.

Somewhere there's a team of engineers who must be very pleased with their work.

Did I mention it was bloody big?

It may not be art but it makes a good place for birds to keep an eye on the insanity of this place.

The weekend in black and white is here.

Orange men

Queen Victoria Square was veritable hive of activity as the finishing touches are applied to the multi-million pound make over. We are absolutely assured that it will all be completed this month all that is except the new water features which won't be activated until Winter is over. I toyed with using this for the 'transitions' theme yesterday but I realised that actually nothing much has changed just the size of the brick paving. 

 

The barriers of course remain and if anything the maze has become even more complicated to pass through. In this picture you can see some of the old paving bricks that somehow have survived. They weren't pretty. Below the new paving which is more varied but hardly eye-catching and certainly not worth the months of disruption and loss of trade and business.

Poop the coop

Here's an advertisement for the effectiveness of bird protection measures; they work so well and the birds feel so protected they set up home.

Never thought I'd find a use for what is, in so many ways, a crap photo (taken by Margot I hasten to add) but then along comes City Daily Daily photo and their "out of focus" theme day. Well blame them ... they asked for it.

Looks like the back end of a bus

This is not just any bus parked up outside City Hall, no this is a Beat the Street bus, a luxury coach for the entertainment industry complete with bunks, kitchens, every conceivable mod-con for the comfort and ease of the hard worked artistes. I think the artistes in question were a band known as Texas who come not from the USA but from Glasgow in the newly independent state of Bonnie Scotland.

Devil's Music

On Saturday in town there was a choice between evangelical rap (or was it hip-hop? my ignorance of pop genres is vast) renditions of bible verses or the good old devil's music; rock 'n' roll. Hmmm. No choice really. This trio were not too bad; that is to say they kept in time with the drummer which is unusual even for professionals. They drew a small appreciative foot-tapping crowd and applause (again almost unheard of for buskers) One thing I did notice is that every song they did began with "Well ...." I think that must be a fifties thang.

Déjà vu

The Christmas tree is deepest red

Its plastic leaves will ne'er be shed.

I hadn't been into town for over a month so I missed, if that is the word, the seasonal decorations, save for these remaining red trees which had been recycled from past yules, waste not want not. If this post seems familiar that's because exactly two years ago I posted this. 

That big old "Thank You, Hull" party

They seemed to be packing a whole year's worth of 'culture' into one afternoon in Hull yesterday. The day started with the Lord mayor's parade complete with a fly past of some WW2 planes which I saw from two miles away while getting my newspapers, those three planes made one hell of a racket, no stealth bombers back then.

I wouldn't normally attend things like this but I had to go into town for stuff anyway so I had a little look-see. I only stayed for an hour and missed most of the goodies on offer including a "Larkin Toads performance" (I bet that was fun). Here in no particular order are some of the goings-on that I witnessed. 

Synchronised Lindy Hopping!

Where's the next act gone?

A robot that prints on the pavement

If you're wondering what the "thank you" is for it's a  City of Culture thing and if you're still wondering what a City of Culture thing is I suggest lying down in a cool dark room with soothing music. If these images aren't sufficient the local rag has more pictures here.

Round Square

Long, long ago Margot's parents came to Hull for her graduation ceremony in the City Hall. They stopped off for a meal in a Chinese restaurant, after their meal they asked the way to the City Hall and were told to go along the road until they came to the "round square". From that day forth Queen Victoria square has been known in these circles as the round square. Back then it had traffic circulating the regal urinals and did not look like a paved desert. We are told this space will feature prominently in the 2017 C of C thing; well that'll be fun then won't it....


CDP's Square theme is here.

City Hall

Here's the City Hall on a bright sunny day. The City Hall is not to be confused with the Guildhall which is the seat of local political shenanigans. No, the City Hall hosts concerts and other cultural events which may explain why there are so many police vans surrounding it.

National Cycle Network

Quite why there is a fish tailed signpost for the national cycle network outside the City Hall I don't know. It was put there in those heady Millenium days when there was plenty of money about. Do you remember money?

The view from the bank.

The newish Barclay's bank has wonderful blue reflective windows so I had to point the Fuji and click. That's the City Hall in the background.

City Hall, Hull

 

English Heritage has a detailed record of this building; a sample of the lengths to which they go is as follows: "Above the dentillated cornice, a copper dome with an open domed cupola and finial. Below, a Doric porte-cochere with pair of square columns at the corners and a balustraded balcony. Central revolving door flanked by panelled square columns, and beyond, pairs of glazed doors, all with overlights. On either side, a round-headed niche with a life-size figure sculpture." They say a picture paints a thousand words ....