Beverley Road Public Baths

A fine example of Edwardian civic pride on display here. Not one but two domes all copper; there's posh. Opened in 1905 the baths served two purposes, recreational and hygenic. Many of the surrounding houses lacked bathrooms and so residents used the excellent slipper baths which were still in use in the 1980s; I know, I used to use them and very nice they were too! The swimming pool was used at one time for the preservation of an ancient wooden boat that was found on the shores of the Humber, there a link here. A campaign to save the baths from demolition in the 1990s was successful and they were renovated and are now in constant use; the council have a page here. There's a bit more about the building here.

Noble thoughts from all directions

This statue is in the garden of the Transport Museum (now with the pretentious name of the Nelson Mandela Garden) and was paid for by Hull's Indian community.  It was unveiled in 2004 by Lord Putnam no less and a whole host of other dignitaries.

Drop Zone

Here's the rich brown river Hull near the entrance to the old Victoria Dock. It's fairly notorious as a place where those of an unsteady gait are prone to fall in the water and get stuck in that glorious mud. There are calls to erect a fence but I feel that would end a long tradition of mocking the misfortunes of others.

A welcoming face?

This splendidly cross-eyed face peers out over the entrance to the old Westwood workhouse and infirmary in Beverley, a place where the poor and destitute were housed and put to work. Over the years the workhouse was closed and the infirmary became a NHS hospital. Despite intense local opposition the hospital is due to close and be replaced by a new state of the art building which I bet will not have a sculpture like this welcoming patients.

Copper Beech

I'm cheating a bit here.Of course it doesn't look like this now; this was taken in May last year. These trees turn green through the Summer and then yellow in the Autumn. This is a particularly fine specimen that's actually growing through the wall that you can see on the corner.

No dogs allowed

Dogs are not welcome on Bridlington's beaches during the Summer months for obvious reasons. Come the end of this month and they'll be let slip to enjoy the miles of sand and sea and sun.

Can we have our statue back please?

In an outrageous attack on civlised values a small group of lowlifes stole the statue Voyage from its plinth during the Summer. At over 300kg it's reckoned to be worth about £1200 in scrap so if you're in a pub and a dodgy looking guy offers you a bronze statue cheap you know who to call.