Merchant Navy Day

During the two World Wars thousands of men were killed in service of the Merchant Navy bringing supplies to the UK and to our Soviet Allies in the Arctic convoys. Today is Merchant Navy Day when they are remembered; much good it may do them.

Common Cattle

Here are your Big Macs before the bread is put on. I'm lovin' it.

We had joy,

we had fun,

we had seasons in the sun

and when the Fall was over 

we were burgers in a bun.

(Apologies to  Jacques Brel  & Rod McKuen )

The Black Mill, Beverley Westwood

Her upset look says it is never over.

Here's an odd thing. An installation named "Truelove" (not, you note, "True Love" which should raise suspicions that there is more to this than a Mills and Boon romance) stuck in the tidal ooze of the River Hull. It's a strange story of married Eskimo couple Memiadluk and Uckaluk being brought to Hull on the whaling ship Truelove in 1847. They were then exhibited in native costume and with canoes and so on; supposedly to make people aware of the poor conditions of their homeland in towns and cities in North England. On their way home the next year Uckaluk died of measles on board ship, she was fifteen years old. The heads are copies of casts which are on display in the Maritime Museum along with posters of their "visit".

 The installation is sited at the mouth of the Hull where the old harbour was and where many whaling ships including the Truelove would have landed. The artist is Stefan Gec. 

 The title of the today's posting comes from a poem "The Esquimaux" by Caitríona O'Reilly.

Inside looking out on Bank Holiday Monday

If the weather's not too good or you're interested in anything maritime and fishing related then Hull's maritime museum is worth a visit. If you've been before or are bored by the whole thing then you can always look out of the windows and see the world from a different angle. Did I mention that it's free?

Pigeon passion

 

Until quite recently wood pigeons were birds of farmland and open countryside. Now, thanks to modern agricultural practices and the behaviour shown above they are, well, as common as pigeons in town and city. 

The Hull Mermaid

 

There have been many reports of mermaids throughout the centuries and most have been hoaxes. Perhaps the most notable was that of Phineas Taylor Barnum and his "Feejee Mermaid" hoax in New York in 1842. This specimen, however, was acquired by a noted marine biologist, Sir Alistair Hardy FRS, in 1934 and so we can have no doubts as to its authenticity. It is on display in Hull's Maritime Museum.