A touch of the Dorics

I know it's difficult to believe but ... in the mid-1850s your well-to-do Hull folk were building their desirable residences on Coltman Street and whoever had this Victorian town house built clearly wanted to distinguish their little palace from the hoi-polloi of the hovels of the hinterland of Hessle Road with a little touch of classical elegance. The house like most of the street is now a HMO ( House of Multiple Occupancy; a delightful abbreviation for stuffing as many tenants in as the law will allow ) and comes with al fresco seating ... very classy!

I find upon a modest amount of research that the building was once a social club in the 1930s and also that it is Grade 2 listed and was designed by Benjamin Musgrave of Hull and built c1854. I told you it was classy.

The Out-of-Town Experience

Having lived around here for thirty five or more years it seems surprising that there might be parts of the town I have never been to. Mind you for a good ten or fifteen years I could not have gone here since it wasn't even built. This is the Kingswood Shopping Centre on the newish Kingswood estate, situated on an eastern flood plain of the River Hull just north of the town. We went to see the shops, the big ASDA, and other delights and were, on the whole, underwhelmed. They are big stores, I'll grant, but I can't see myself going back. There were plans to extend this shopping area (with a big Next store, I believe) but these were turned down as it was thought that out-of-town shopping would kill off the town centre. It might come as a big shock to the planners but the centre is dead already and beginning to smell.

The bus route took us through some of the newish housing on the estate. I confess that I have never seen such cramped, tiny dwellings squashed as many as possible into the space. These are not council houses but private dwellings that folk are paying mortgages on. The urge to own your very very own rabbit hutch it seems is strong. The whole place gave a very claustrophobic feeling and the thought that, given a few years and the inevitable drift away of the original owners, this place would make a fine slum; especially when it floods as it did in '07.

Woodbine Cottages

This little terrace of houses is on Endyke Lane in Cottingham. Endyke Lane (with a y) is not to be confused with Endike Lane (with an i) in Hull though the latter is an extension of the former. Looking at old maps it seems that the old name was Endike Lane and the Cottingham end only became Endyke after Hull built the North Hull Estate in the late 1920's. I wonder if this was not some desire on Cottingham's part to distinguish itself from the council house plebs down the road. So now you know the y of it...

Aftermath

A fire in a house last Friday morning resulted in an explosion which blew out the front windows of this house on Beverley Road. A man later died of his injuries and two firemen were also injured. Despite appearances the house is said to be structurally sound as are the neighbouring properties.

Typical

Nothing special about today's offering. A typical Hull side street, Grafton Street if you must know, with its typical array of terraced housing, typical array of bins on the pavement (they're an obstruction but no-one gives a toss, which is also typical) and its typical white van parked on a double yellow (but really it's on the pavement so that doesn't count).

Today is a bank holiday and the forecast is cloudy with some rain ... typical.

Sydney House

I rather liked the look of Sydney House which sits along Adelaide Street and Cogan Street, two tree lined and seemingly pleasant avenues. As council flats go I've seen far uglier ways of housing a lot of people in a small area. Ah but would I want to live there? I'm afraid I am not worthy to share in the delights of having Castle Street on one side, Ferensway on another, the Salvation Army hostel just across the road and a neighbourhood (I think 'community' is the current must-use word these days) that is somewhat high on unemployment, social deprivation and crime. I feel I must leave these pleasures to others more fortunate than myself.

Four walls and a roof

Here's another of the modern architectural delights on Saint Ninian's Walk.  I've shown it in black and white but you are not missing much colour since it is a pale blueish white, somewhat akin to a cyanotic corpse, in reality. I like the little sun hole in the roof which looks like an afterthought, the rest is just dire.

The Weekend in Black and White is here.

A house on Park Lane

That's Park Lane, Cottingham and really there's no problems with the neighbours since there aren't any save for the pylons and power cables converging on Creyke Beck substation. The noisy skylarks might drive you to distraction though.

The Rank House

I posted about this house on Holderness Road some three years ago,(here). It was once the home of J Arthur Rank, he of the films that began with a man and a gong. I mentioned then that it was in a bit of a state. Well now it's being repaired and restored for social housing. In the story I read it was expected that the first tenants would be in by the end of this year, it looks like they'll have get a move on to achieve that. Still, let's keep our quibbling to a minimum.

On the huh

Flemingate, Beverley

This old house is not quite jizzicked but it's definitely on the huh.