Wednesday 31 January 2018

2-4 Charlotte Street


As any fool will tell you this is not Charlotte Street but George Street and any fool would be right. But what you see now ain't how it always was. Before the new North Bridge was built Charlotte Street meandered down to the river and on to the old bridge. But road straightening and modernisation meant Charlotte Street lost about half its length which then became part of  George Street. It's all water under the many bridges of Hull now, but if you've ever wondered (as I'm sure you do daily) why there's a Charlotte Street Mews behind George Street well now you know.


Now from what I can gather with a modest amount of searching one of these building was the home of Dr John Alderson and the other was the former YPI, a charity connected with Thomas Ferens (he of the Art Gallery). All that counts for little as both buildings are now split into apartments.

Tuesday 30 January 2018

The Out-of-Town Experience


Having lived around here for thirty five or more years it seems surprising that there might be parts of the town I have never been to. Mind you for a good ten or fifteen years I could not have gone here since it wasn't even built. This is the Kingswood Shopping Centre on the newish Kingswood estate, situated on an eastern flood plain of the River Hull just north of the town. We went to see the shops, the big ASDA, and other delights and were, on the whole, underwhelmed. They are big stores, I'll grant, but I can't see myself going back. There were plans to extend this shopping area (with a big Next store, I believe) but these were turned down as it was thought that out-of-town shopping would kill off the town centre. It might come as a big shock to the planners but the centre is dead already and beginning to smell.



The bus route took us through some of the newish housing on the estate. I confess that I have never seen such cramped, tiny dwellings squashed as many as possible into the space. These are not council houses but private dwellings that folk are paying mortgages on. The urge to own your very very own rabbit hutch it seems is strong. The whole place gave a very claustrophobic feeling and the thought that, given a few years and the inevitable drift away of the original owners, this place would make a fine slum; especially when it floods as it did in '07.

Monday 29 January 2018

Well Hello there ...


Somehow I missed out on National Inclusion Week ... story of my life really.

Sunday 28 January 2018

The Wicked Witch of the Wych


Here's another set I should have posted last year before the grand ennui set in. You might recall an old dead tree being reshaped in Pearson Park and you might also recall me saying there was another dead tree close by that might be available. Well most of last summer someone was busy with a grinder transforming that tree into a mix of faces and animals.


We happened to be passing this tree and saw the guy at work; he stopped and made some kind of hand gesture indicating "would I like to come up and have a closer look?" So after much struggling ( I have the acrobat skills of a hippopotamus ) I eventually got onto the scaffolding and took a few pictures.




"What did I think this was?" asks the guy, "A clown?" says I  having in mind Punch and Judy. He was not impressed, "No, it's a witch! And why would I put a witch here?" he asked (it was beginning to feel a bit like the Spanish Inquisition) I shrug, "The tree was a Wych Elm!" he says with a gleam in eye ...


Here's the nice guy with grinder and  the skill to make things appear out of the wood, his name is Julian Barnard and his work was for the Trustees of Pearson Park. He was given a brief of “poetic” (Philip Larkin's old lodgings are directly opposite and the toad figure is again another Larkin thing) The piece, which is now finished, has the title Whispering Sweet Nothings.


Tuesday 23 January 2018

Harbour Wall


I was going to call this something like 'next stop Hamburg' since if you keep going East over that horizon you'll end up close to that place but then I guess no-one or very few from Hamburg these days thinks 'heh if go that-a-way I'll end up in Bridlington' well at least not for the past seventy five years or so... This was taken in October when by rights it should have been posted then but though the body was willing the spirit was weak ... Besser spät als nie as they might say over yonder ...


The City Daily Photo theme for January was 'Photo of the Year'; it's not too late to go have a look.

Monday 22 January 2018

Audrey's x 2


Serving battered fried fish and chips must be a lucrative business as Audrey's in Bridlington seems to have doubled in size since I last noticed ...

Saturday 20 January 2018

Warped



If anyone bangs on about intelligent design being the way of the world just ask how the apex of the alleged Deity's plans, the most intelligent species on the planet can be brought low by something 80-120 nanometers in size. And what part that horrid little virion plays in any vast eternal plan? But that's enough theodicy for now. So in case you haven't guessed I've had and still have to some extent a version of influenza: could be the deadly Australian or the ever-so-polite Japanese or the entente filled French well whatever it was it was an absolute bugger. The past week has been one long semi-concious blur spent under a duvet surviving on soup, tea and easy-peel satsumas oh and regular doses of Paracetamol. Grrrrrr.

Today's picture is a reflection I caught at Cottingham station. If, like me, you see a sort of face in this image it's not a sign of warped mentality but of a "well wired brain" according to the Daily Mail. Pareidolia is, it appears, a good thing though I fail to see its place in intelligent design. If you don't see a face, of course, it means you have an even better wired brain, however if you regularly read and take the Daily Mail seriously I can't comment on your wiring ...

Anyhow back to the duvet and a cup of life saving tea ...

The Weekend Reflections are here.