Rust Park

There's a wise saying that if a thing ain't broken you don't fix it; it goes without saying that Hull Council lacks even this basic savvy. Behold the solution to a problem that did not exist. The new entrance to West Park, dandy ain't it! Yes that's real rust, genuine 100% iron oxide. Now Hull folk may not know much about art but they know what they like and they really hate this. "Looks like parts from an old trawler", “dirty”, “dull” and “The change looks tacky, like it was designed by schoolchildren.” are some of the comments made to the local paper. Not content with this, roads, lined, of course, with rusting curved lamp posts, were built through this quaint old Victorian park splitting it in two.

Now I'm not one to criticise just for the sake of it but this 'statement' is meant to impress visitors to Hull especially those going to the football stadium through the park. This heap of rusting junk says, accurately, that Hull is falling apart.

Oh, I forgot, the bill for all this ... a mere £7 million.

Flying

Ex libris

What do you do with a library that the Council have decided is "surplus to requirements"? This is or was the Carnegie Library on Anlaby Road. It opened in 1905 with funds from the steel magnate Andrew Carnegie and was closed in 2001 when the books were moved to a nearby 'learning centre' (?). It then stood more or less empty until 2007 when the Carnegie Heritage Action Team took it over. It now houses the East Yorkshire Family History Society and a book binding service.

Ivy

The trackside near my local station was cleared earlier this year making space for the ivy to take over. It's now flowering with masses of these clumps of florets. This is good news for pollen seeking insects and for the birds who eat the berries in Winter.

Hull Fair

It's the week of Hull Fair again. Never seems to change, stalls selling boiled sugary treats, rides to spin you round and up and down and bright lights; oh and loud, very loud music. Thousands come every year so it must be doing something right.

 Galloping Horses, a vintage roundabout built by Frederick Savage of King's Lynn.

 A modern roundabout on hyperdrive!

Back to Front

 Here are both sides of Kingston House on Bond Street, a testament to the concrete pourer's art.

Victims of the recessions

Even when times were good Hull has always had its pockets of economic failure. Somehow the benefits of growth never seemed to trickle down this far, mysteriously drying up on the way. Bond Street is one particular island of gloom. I showed you one side of the street a while back. The building across the street is a victim of the recession. Not the present one nor yet the last one; no, this building has been empty for  years. It once was a department store built just after WW2 to replace a bombed out store.  In the 30 years or so that I've lived in Hull I've only known this building open for a few months as an amusement arcade. In 2008 plans were drawn up to convert to flats but we all know happened in 2008 ...

Next door is the old Co-operative store, this has been shut for almost as long as the other building. The front half of this building is the BHS store I showed you sometime back and that seems to be doing fine. I really can't see much of a future for these buildings, not as stores anyway, given that there is a brand new glass and steel shopping centre just around the corner and if they failed in the good times how are they going to make in the bad?