Four in a row

I think these are Common Gulls, they were certainly very common in the park last week before the snow melted.

The eye of the beholder

The park pond was frozen over which was only to be expected. All the birds thought I had bread to give them, unfortunately I had none but there were others with whole loaves to dispense. If you zoom in on the eye of this goose you might just make out an image of me taking a picture. 

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.

Park Shots

 With temperatures well above average the park is a good place to take your granny for a walk,

 or go for a ride on your bike,

or catch up with the latest news and gossip.

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.  

Up tails all!

Geese and Ducks

The water birds in Pearson Park are having a tough time in this cold weather. Whenever anyone passes by they mob around hoping for food, fortunately they usually get some bread to keep them going. The Canada geese can be particularly enthusiastic and will nip your fingers if you let them.

George

On a cold day the Victorian Conservatory in Pearson Park is a nice warm place to spend half an hour. George the iguana is a particularly colourful attraction. This picture may be a little misty, the humidity in this place is extreme.

When the wind is in the East...

...'tis neither good for man nor beast.

This weather vane  is atop the Victorian Conservatory in Pearson Park.

Pearson Park, Hull

 

 There's a vogue nowadays for philanthropic intervention in public affairs. This is not a new thing, in 1860 Zacchariah Charles Pearson donated a few acres of land in west Hull for a public park. Good for him you say; well up to a point. You see he kept a ring of land surrounding the park for his own speculative building venture and got the people of Hull to pay for a park in the middle. His business and political acumen left him when he led a doomed venture trying to run guns and ammunition to the Confederacy in the US civil war; he lost everything and ended his days practically penniless in a house on Pearson Park. I have a vague memory of some Confederate followers tracing down his grave in Springbank cemetery and renovating it, but that may just be my mind going.

The top picture shows the lake and a Victorian hothouse/conservatory which has a few fishes in tanks and some birds in cages. The colourful blob on the right is, I'm afraid, yet another toad. Below is a detail of the obelisk memorial to old Zacc.