A frozen moment of contemplation

I mentioned a little while back the collection of statues dotted around the University campus and that I would wander back and have another look. Well I wandered and looked and took a few photos which I'll post from time to time over the next few days and weeks. The collection is called Cairns and there's plenty of literature about it which maybe you should read because there is no way I could up with a sentence like "The figures on campus portray frozen moments of contemplation and take on the form of human trail markers referencing themes of spirituality and physicality." My loss I guess ...

Building a legacy

Here is the eastern end of Jameson Street with the canopy of the now empty BHS store that used to shelter those waiting for buses. Where once there was a steady stream of cars, buses and people, the very arterial blood of any city, there is now yet another bland, pedestrianised desert. 

When a shop stops selling stuff and the doors close and the "for sale" signs spring up (redevelopment opportunity, of course) this is when the cover up operation starts. In swoops the council or whoever and City of Culture posters festoon the empty windows and doors. It all looks so professional, they've obviously had a lot of experience in this. So the empty BHS store is no longer a salutary lesson in the failure of modern business but has somehow become a bright blue advertisement for Culture and that is some sort of legacy I suppose.

Now I've gone on about this mosaic thing before and how there was a petition to get it some protection from any future wrecker's ball. Well it seems there yet another petition to get it Grade 2 listed. As you simply cannot have too many petitions I signed that as well; you may like to do so it's here. The mural now has a Twitter identity (@BhsMuralHull)  and I read recently of a young person who had a tatoo based on the mosaic. Now that is truly a lasting legacy.

The Weekend in Black and White is here.

The Last Trip Memorial

For a place the size of Hull to lose 6,000 to 8,000 men in the fishing trade over the years there are surprisingly few memorials about the place. It should therefore not come as a complete surprise that the past year as seen two coming along together (like buses), this one hidden away in Zebedee's Yard and another of silhouette statues on St Andrew's Quay (which I have yet to see). Now this one has changing coloured lights shining through cut out words to do with the trawling industry as well as stainless steel miniature ship's bows as flower holders and memorial inscriptions. It's all a tad dull, unmemorable and slightly saccharine for me but others may find it more to their taste, who's to say? Anyhow you can buy a bow and have it inscribed for a mere £500. There's a shed load of stuff about it here so I'll shut up and push off...

A foreign country

I don't know what the protocol is with photoblogs regarding showing photos of photos; I did it before and no-one said anything so I'll try it again. So above we have the Princes dock as it was some time ago with trawlers parked up against Maurice Lipman's tailor shop (yes, that Lipman's dad). I have no idea who took it or when it was taken (1940s/50s early 60s even, someone will know)  and I do hope that lady crossed the road safely. The picture is on display in Zebedee's Yard as part of a memorial to lost trawler men, I'll show more tomorrow. Nowadays there's no road,  no trawlers and no tailor shop either. I think it's selling Apples (not the fruit). 

There were two other photographs on display so here they are to make the full set.

This is from what is now the Maritime Museum, that dinky little bridge in the distance is now Castle Street...

...and this is from the exit to the Albert Dock if I'm not mistaken.
(And I am mistaken; it's St Andrew's Dock!)

... and still we wait

The promised fountains in Queen Victoria Square have yet to materialise. We are told by a Councillor that "The technology used to operate these features has not been used anywhere else," and "So in that sense they're unique. Issues around that technology are being addressed.". Now as far as I know fountains have been around for thousands of years; how difficult can it be? You have water, you squirt it through a hole, repeat process until bored... These however are fancy fountains with bells and whistles, well coloured lights anyway as you can see in this article from a well known local newspaper. If I were a gambling man I'd put a small wager on these things working on and off for a season or two then being quietly forgotten and paved over.

...and also outside the Holy Trinity Coffee Bar the so-called mystical mirror pools are also still not in place (surprise, surprise) and guess what the reason is? "I can safely say nothing like this has ever been seen before in this country, if not Europe. I prefer to call them glazed paving. They are going to be mystical, magical and I hope quite special...." says the guy who sold these puppies to Hull City Council and "They are definitely the first of their kind in the UK and they're here in Hull." Yeah right, puddles with knobs on, can't wait.

Balanced Diet

Following on the "Let's Eat" theme of yesterday this pub sign seems to cover all the essentials ...

Tasty in blue

Hooray, hooray the first of May outdoor eating starts today ...

Today's first of the month thingummy at City Daily Photo is "Let's Eat!" Pop over there to see what others have cooked up.