Whirlybird

When you're walking along the street probably the last thing you expect to see is a helicopter taking off a few dozen yards away. I was on my way to Hull Fair (about which more later) when the police chopper arose from a patch of grass close by Hull Royal Infirmary. What it was doing there I know not but I took a few piccies for the record. 

12 Floréal CCXXIII

"The French Revolution caused great loss of life, liberty, fraternity, etc., and was, of course, a Good Thing, since the French were rather degenerate at the time; but Napoleon now invented a new Convention that the French should massacre all the other nations and become top nation, and this, though quite generate, was a Bad Thing."

Sellar & Yeatman, 1066 and all that

Next Thursday the voters of this land go to chose members of one of the most successful revolutionary institutions in the world. Yes I do mean Parliament, which was formed to restrain Plantagenet excesses,  and which has led two revolutions, beheading one king and overthrowing another and creating the means to hold Government to account. Well that's what it says in the textbooks and they wouldn't lie to me would they? Obviously all thought of revolution has gone out of the place, I hear the old building is nearly falling down (perhaps with the members still inside, perish that seditious thought!). But we live in troubled times, so they say, and this next parliament could see the exit from the EU, the break up of the UK and the immiseration of millions. Or not, as the case may be. Probably not, but I doubt heads will fall in any case that's not the style these days instead a place in the Lords awaits any failed minister.
Personally I’ll just sit here and watch the river flow, I hear Chelsea will win the Premier League this year, Hull look like staying up and did you see England win the cricket the other day, and will it be a Royal boy or girl and ain't it cold for Spring?

Today's image for the City Daily Photo theme of Revolution is from a ghost ride at Hull Fair, a celebration for the local yokels of things going round and round and getting nowhere at their own expense.

Sign of authority

Tucked away in a little brick hut and behind steel grills the harbour master's office near Drypool bridge is a reminder that, from the Humber to the northern boundary of the city of Hull, the navigation authority on the river Hull is Hull City Council. HCC's website informs us that "A harbour master is on duty from three hours before high water (HW) Hull (Albert Dock) until HW or later if required, except Sundays" and that the HM is responsible for the operation of the movable bridges that link both halves of this fair city. Actually I don't think the harbour master works from this building any more as his/her address is the Guildhall, Alfred Gelder Street, and given that hardly any navigating seems to go on nowadays the post must almost be a sinecure. 

Western Cemetery

The Western Cemetery is essentially an extension of the Spring Bank cemetery [1, 2] opened in 1889 and still in use. It is across the railway line from the site of Hull Fair which you can see in the background. Most of the early memorials are showing signs of aging except for this one to Zebedee Scaping. Who he? My searches show he was born in Eton then went to the Royal Hospital School which has connections with the Navy. Later he becomes the headmaster of Trinity House school in Hull, a position he held for fifty-five years and, as this monument says, is  known in "every port and on every sea". I've managed to find a photo of him here , he's the one with the beard. The memorial was restored and regilded a few years ago and looks as it must have done when new.

Zeb married Georgiana Harriette Fury in Dublin in 1859, his occupation as that time is described as "Esquire", those were the days, eh!. From census records I found they had a son, also called Zebedee, well it would have been a shame to lose such a fine name.

If you like wandering round cemeteries why not wander over to Taphophile Tragics and see what others have posted.

Frederick Savage

One thing that I did not see at the Mart was a roundabout with horses, folk are more interested in being put at the end of a vertical centrifuge and spun up above the chiminey tops than going round and round and up and down on wooden horses accompanied by steam powered organ music. 

Times and fashions change but once upon time steam powered galloping horses, invented by this guy, Frederick Savage, were all the rage. I read that showmen could make close on a hundred pounds a day from penny rides on one of these machines; that's old pennies, 240 to the pound. He sold his contraptions around the world spreading dizzy fun while making a small fortune.

Frederick Savage became mayor of Lynn three times (a veritable Dick Whittington) and died in 1897. This statue was erected in 1892 paid for by showmen and the people of Lynn. He was clearly much liked as a banquet was held in his honour.

After his death the works nearly went under and were only saved by being bought up by local firms. Steam engines were not the way of the future, at least not for farm work or fair grounds. The last Savage roundabout I saw was at Hull Fair several years ago, I don't think any are left in active service, they are all museum pieces. The factory in Lynn where Savage made his machines is now a tame arcade of shops. 

This statue has him in mayoral ceremonial garb giving a priestly benefaction to all who pass. It stands, as it always has done, on London Road close to the South Gate.

By way of postscript; while going through the papers of Margot's late mother I found that her house, off Loke Road a stone's throw from the old Savage works, was built on land sold off by Mr Savage's widow in 1898. 

All the fun of the Fair ...

Early October in this town can mean only one thing: Hull Fair. Yes it's that time of year again when the air is filled with the distant rumble of machinery, extremely loud music and the faint aroma of burnt cow meat and onions wafts across from Walton Street. So here's a small selection of shots from the other night. I seem to have left my colours at home so you'll have to use your imagination...

The Helter Skelter Girl

I found this among the pictures Margot had taken at Hull Fair this year.

The weekend in black and white is here.

Shaves and trims

I have to say if it should ever come about that I can't shave myself (not that I ever do)  or trim my own beard (again only rarely) you can take me out and shoot me. I am, perhaps, not the barber's best friend. Anyhoo this cute little sign aimed at a somewhat younger (and richer) clientèle than myself is on the way home from Hull Fair on Chanterlands Avenue.

Albert Hall, Midland Street, Hull

In a seedy little street behind Hull's Paragon station stands this ruin of a building. Hull's very own Albert Hall once entertained up to 800 patrons with music hall variety acts. The days of music hall passed and the place became a straightforward public house and later a bingo hall called the Fair and Square Club. It's been closed for nearly forty years and is heavily vandalised. There were rumours of demolition and redevelopment but as I've said before these rumours amount to very little. If something isn't done about it soon I guess gravity, the weather and the thriving buddleias will have the final say.

There's an excellent web page on this building's history here.

Level Crossing

Waiting for the train to pass this little crowd gathered at the crossing on Spring Bank in October during Hull Fair week. I've noticed that there aren't many people in my photos so I'm making up for that with a whole bagful. 

Something a bit different

On my way to Hull Fair last week I passed this van which for some reason caught my eye, can't think why ...

"This is summer, you have to make an effort ..."

After the excitement of the Lord Mayor's Hanse Day I was at a loss for something to do and to make things even more interesting it started to rain, heavily. Now a little rain never harmed anyone and a temperature like today's of 11C (I'm wearing two jumpers to keep warm!) is not going to cause any impediment to enjoying the delights this fair city has to offer ... as I was told as a child "You can't put the heating on. This is summer, you have to make an effort!". So I took my own advice on what to do in Hull on a rainy day and shuffled on over to the Streetlife Transport Museum to see what, if anything, had changed since I last visited some seven years ago. The short answer is nothing has changed at all as far as I could tell. Rebuilt railway signalman's hut still there? Check. Red bus with guy still hanging out of window? Check. Blue bus still going to West Dock Avenue? Check. Biplane still swooping low over a typical Hull Street scene as they did so often back in the day? Check, check and checkedy check for all the other things ...
So while Pluvius did his thing outside I had a quick shifty round and took a few piccies, then I put on my old green bucket hat, zipped up my coat and made my way home. You can have too much fun in a museum so best to limit yourself  or so I convinced myself ... oh and in future if it's rainy and cold in Hull I'm just going to go home and have a nice cup of tea while summer pulls itself together.

Looking at this façade I realised it looked familiar, it's a copy of the entrance to Hepworth's Arcade on Lowgate ...

Football crazy

Somebody obviously was feeling a tad homesick (possibly drunk, who could say?) and simply had to tell the world of their affection for Zagłębie Sosnowiec, a football team. I somehow doubt that in the fair city of Sosnowiec there's a wall celebrating Hull City Association Football Club but you never know. Speaking of HCAFC the owner wants to change the name of the club to Hull Tigers on the grounds that 'city' is such an "common" word. As you know Hull is a idyllic place with no real great issues to worry about so this has caused uproar and dismay among those who follow this 'club' and pay good money to watch a ball being kicked from one end of a grassy field to the other.

For those of you into 1980's popular music combos this is on Grafton Street home to the Housemartins and later the Beautiful South. 

Sugar and spice and all things nice

Hull Fair has two parts; the big expensive rides and smaller stalls where you can shoot yourself a prize or hook-a-duck and so on these are all congregated off Walton Street. On Walton Street itself there is a long line of stalls selling food, burgers, Indian take-aways, fish and chips and so on are all there for the taking but there also lots of sweet stalls selling what is essentially sugar  in various disguises. For some reason Margot took a lot pictures of these so here's her view.

Margot dared me to post this. If you want to create a space around yourself in a crowd just take out a doll and photograph it; folk steer clear for some reason, can't think why.

The Stadium Church

Sitting at the junction of the Boulevard and Anlaby Road this is St Matthew's church. It was built in 1870 to accommodate the expanding city's spiritual needs. Whether or not it managed that I don't know but it's still open for business after all these years unlike many other Victorian churches built at that time. The church's website informs me that it has a special ministry for sport and also for the annual Hull Fair. The church has taken to calling itself the Stadium Church due its closeness to the KC Stadium though the latter has far bigger (all paying) congregations.

Welcoming signs

Before we get to the Fair we must pass the KC Stadium. Up close the stadium is an ugly brute reminiscent of an overgrown steel can without any of the charm. Hull council splashed out £44 million for this monster in West Park nearly eleven years ago when times were much, much easier than now and the Council was flush with cash from the sale of the local telephone company. The stadium is home to two teams, the Premier League Hull City and the rugby league Hull Football Club, but as neither spherical nor elliptical balls interest me that much I've never been inside and besides they won't let me take my camera in ....(I've just checked and the cheapest tickets for an adult to watch a soccer match is £22. The last match I went to, admittedly going on for 35 years ago, cost less than £3 and I got to see Liverpool beat, I believe, Manchester City 5-0. Kenny Dalgleish scored a hat trick. I think that's enough footy for now.)

 

There's a website for the truly besotted, it's here.

Hull First

Railway enthusiasts (aka train spotters) will no doubt be able to tell that this is a Class 180 Adelante unit, used by First Hull Trains to run its direct Hull to London service. Here it stands at Paragon station waiting its passengers who have grown weary of the delights of this fair city.

It's happy hour again

You never quite know what you might bump into at Hull Fair. This is guy I believe is called Rabbit De Niro but don't quote me on that.

Margot is responsible for this.

Window Dressing

Is it cheating to take a picture of pictures of Hull? This is that closed down store on Ferensway I showed some time back. Its windows are now filled with large photos of this fair city. The sponsors are Visit Hull and East Yorkshire and the Hull Business Improvement District. Whilst it's all very pretty and a great improvement on  depressing blank windows it's still an empty shop in a city with many other empty shops.