Soft, strong and unbearably long ...

OK I expect the odd advertisement for the C of C but this one in Hull station put me in mind of a giant toilet roll. Is it sending a subtle message about the dire nature of next year's 'events'?

Un-English Light

Having spent an hour in Cottingham church the other day I have a bagful of photos so I may as well use one or two for the City Daily Photo theme of 'shadow and highlight'. The stained glass in this church is mostly from a Belgian artist J B Capronnier a fact which someone, Nikolaus Pevsner no less, complained about saying he felt like he was in a French church and "It is all totally un-English; and how much truer to the medium English glass is!"  Mr Pevsner's claim to Englishness was somewhat strained being the a son of a Russian-Jew brought up in Leipzig but we'll let it pass, we're all communautaire these days, well at least until the end of the month. 

The church is kept almost completely unlit, so there's plenty of shadow and a good chance of tripping over a pew until your eyes adjust.

Photo by Margot K Juby

Sharkeys

I mentioned in yesterday's post a nightclub that closed sometime ago, well here it is: Sharkeys. Links nicely with yesterday's post is I do say so myself (sharks, bites, no? ... oh suit yourself!). Reports in newspapers say nightclubs are a closing at an "alarming rate" these days, can't say I'll miss them.

Bites...

This former café (or takeaway I'm not sure what it was) is under the grubby multi-storey car park on George Street. I can't honestly say that I ever saw the place open; those black shutters have always been down as far as I'm concerned. So if you're looking for an opportunity in the food retail industry this place, near to a soon to be demolished police station and next to a nightclub that closed down ages ago, could be your first step on the ladder to success (or bankruptcy).

The weekend in black and white is here.

Meet the Burtons

Richard Burton

Due to events that need not concern you I was forced yesterday afternoon to stay in Cottingham for three hours. Now Cottingham has a few attractions but not, even on a good day, three hours worth. And yesterday it was cold and raining heavily, yes I know it's May. So seeking shelter from the elements I ended up in St Mary's church, camera in hand and acres of time to fill. The place was, as usual empty with only the vicar's CCTV cameras keeping me company. Anyway enough of my troubles ..

Tucked away by the entrance are three large (ridiculously large) memorials to various Burtons the people who owned most of Cottignham in the 18th century and indeed lots of east Yorkshire as well. The most notable, if you are into military-history things that is, is the one above to Richard Burton a commander of the British army in North America. He was lieutenant governor of Quebec and then governor of Three Rivers Province back in 1760s or thereabouts. Below are two more memorials to William and Robert Burton who as far as I can tell did little other than have great wealth and do whatever it is wealthy people do. I did not notice any memorial to Napier Christie Burton who seemed to manage to live beyond even the Burton family's means and ended up selling the holdings in Cottingham, even at one stage going to debtors prison. Somehow I couldn't find anything to him, strange that...

Robert Burton

William Burton

2 High Sttreet

I don't why it has two doors maybe the first wasn't wide enough. Anyhow not so very long ago this place looked like this; so it's scrubbed up nicely hasn't it.

Nonexistent walls

If you look at old pictures of Hull (there's one at the top of this page ↑↑↑) you'll see there's a wall runs right around the place. This was to stop the spread of Hull-culturitis, a fatal delusion, during the middle ages. Anyhow today's post, in case you hadn't guessed, was where the north walls stood until President Reagan told them to pull them down in about the middle of the 18th century or so. City walls have a habit of getting in the way of progress ...

Tomorrow I'll show you a house with two doors! Does it get more exciting?