Paragon Plants

On the concourse of Hull's Paragon Station there's this odd thing, a plant stall. It's been there for as long as I can remember and sells an eclectic assortment of greens from cacti and carnivorous plants to pansies and petunias ... oh and pink flamingoes.

O where do we go now but nowhere

The final show, as it were, of the Year of Culture was a series of installations scattered about the town each consisting of several robotic arms that were supposed to move around with lights and sound (I believe the term 'music' may have been used, but it was basically just eerie noise). This junk was titled "Where Do We Go From Here?" and is described as a "thrilling mix of art and technology" ... the blurb continues "...At a time of political uncertainty at home and abroad, it also asks important questions: What kind of place do we want to live in? What role should culture play? Where do we go from here?" There's more (isn't there always?) "Where Do We Go From Here? , is a deliberate provocation designed to get individuals reflecting upon their city’s future. It invites everyone to take part in a timely conversation about art, culture and society." Yada, yada, yada ...

I came upon this very unmoving piece  as they were obviously fixing some kind of fault, so it wasn't working. However later I did cross paths with a different installation that was in full flow; the arms had lights attached and waved about a bit and there was sound to go with. (Gosh, how very sixites I thought, when robots were just coming into the work place and were seen as menacing ... ) An enthusiastic Hull person (there are some, well, at least one) grabbed me by the arm and exclaimed how brilliant and fantastic it all was... I'm afraid I used language that the clergy do not know.

So the Y of C ended not with fireworks, nor yet with a whimper; it just fizzled out possibly from exhaustion or, more likely, boredom... (Officially there was no celebration because (& I paraphrase) "It's not over yet, there's still more to come and, and ,and ..." yeah, yeah, we paid already) The gang of imps, pimps, banjo players and blow-ins from the world of Culture Incorporated responsible for this fest of dreck were all dutifully gonged by Queenie over the New Year and have not been heard of since... And while Hull is still City of Culture for another three years attention will now pass to poor old Coventry. Oh yes! the birth place of Phillip Larkin (damn Hull did him first, still...)... and Lady Godiva and, and, and ... aint culcha fun?

Unbelievable

A couple of Hully things cropped up in the news while I was away. First Hull was declared the second worst town in the UK. The source for this sensational news was a survey by some folk calling themselves LadBible ("Redefining Entertainment & News For a Social Generation", no, me neither!) clearly this is nonsense and caused uproar and upset in the City of Culture as a) Hull is not a crap town but a crap city (there's no shortage of parochial pedants in this place) and b) Hull is definitely the worst place in the UK, coming second is not an option.

The second incredible snippet of news was the estimate of 3.5 million people attending events during the Year of Culture. Given that this came from Hull City Council who could hardly be said to be impartial observers let alone capable of counting over twenty, this figure is open to some doubt. Still even if we take this figure and look at the break down for individual events say the fireworks on New Year's Eve, the Blade, the porcelain poppies and a handful of other shows soaked up well over 3 million visitors (allegedly). But, and here is yet another incredible (or amazing as they called everything last year, if it wasn't amazing it was stunning ...) fact, there were 2000 events put on over the year. I kid you not, 2000! So by the figures of Hull City Council the vast majority of these cultural events must have attracted two men and (perhaps) a dog. 

Now I'm a trusting sort of guy and if a statement is made to effect that nearly one million folk visited the Blade in its seventy day stay in Queen Vic Square I'm not going to do some back-of-a-fag-packet calculation that this means 600 per hour visited the colossal thing, 10 a minute or roughly the normal number of folk crossing the square at any one time... Also I passed under it dozens of times and must, I suppose, have been counted dozens of times... But I don't want to start off the new year in this suspicious mood. Hull City Council are fine and trustworthy folk as trusty as this picture of the Rose Bowl Gardens.

It's been yonks ...

... since I posted anything.

The new year sees Hull and all things Hully still much the same. Be assured you haven't missed anything.

Lifeboats and Water Works

A few yards further along from the Spa is this new-to-me lifeboat station which with its white curves and windows pays a passing homage to the art deco-ish Spa. However a few yards further brings us to this piece that seems to be a relic of Rommel's Atlantikwall, I believe it's something to do with the sewage out fall pipe they were putting in a while back. It does make for a fine vantage point if you clamber up the top of it, and from there, of course, you can't see it; so win-win. 

If you're wondering why the RNLI needed a new station it's because the old one (below) was a) not even close to the beach and b) it was across the road and traffic had to be held up and so on whenever there was a call out.

Huis-clos

Festival House

You know how it is: the neighbours have gotten a bit rowdy and done a bit of damage to your neighbourhood but, well, we've all got to get along together somehow ... so some six years after that party that was WW2 Hull gets round to building something permanent; Hull is so chuffed at building something permanent it puts up a plaque and the building is named after that event that forever dooms Britain: the Festival of Britain. OK enough hype; this easily missed building is the first building they built after the war and Jameson Street must have been a much bigger mess than the recent renovations ( "You don't know you've lived", I believe is the expression our parents would fling at us for being born too late to miss all that bomb damage fun. So sorry Adolph I'll catch it on Yesterday +1). May day 1951 must have been some day for Hull, the rebuild begins. There is that saying if at first you don't succeed try again and fail again, fail better; Hull has been doing that for nigh on seventy years.