Best Park?

East Park has been named the best park in Yorkshire. It is the first time a park in Hull has won the award, which is given out by Yorkshire In Bloom. East Park is now a desert given over to "recreations", I hope they are all so happy with the "award"

 

Swanboats or swans;  ...you can't have both.

 

Community washing in East Park ....

East Park, Hull

Hull has a river running through it which effectively splits the city in two. People tend to have an affinity to one side or the other. East Hull has the docks, west Hull had the fishing and food processing factories. Even the buses do not run from one side to the other. To get from where I live in west Hull to east Hull, I have to go into town and change buses. There is no through service.

This lake and fine restored bridge are in East Park, off Holderness Road, the main shopping area in East Hull. The park was recently cleaned up and renovated, not necessarily for the better. The lake, for example, had four or five small islands that broke up what is now a dull stretch of water. They were simply removed. I suppose they had to do something about the general decay that was overtaking the place but I miss the old mess and clutter. It's too clean and tidy for my liking.

This picture was taken about three weeks ago; the trees are more advanced now, though the weather is, if anything, much colder.

East Park Gates

A further testament to the concrete pourer's art is to be found adorning the entrance to East Park. They are so horrible that I could find nothing on the net to indicate who designed them, shame is a powerful motive for reticence. So here they stand to welcome the visitor; after this the actual park couldn't be any worse.

A stroll in the park

Paid an end of year visit to East Park partly to check if the goosanders have arrived (they have) and partly because East Park is never dull even on a damp and dreary December afternoon. And so it was that my progress was halted by a long file of greylags taking their evening promenade in such an orderly fashion along this tree lined avenue.

East Park

As I often do at this time of year I visited East Park to see if the goosanders had arrived but I didn't see any. However I have heard that there several at another park over in west Hull maybe they just fancied a change of scenery. There were still plenty of seagulls on the lookout for a free lunch.

The weekend in black and white has snooken up on us again and it's here.

East Park Lake

It's been a while since I've been to East Park and in the meanwhile there have been developments, some welcome and one completely incomprehensible. Let's start with this welcome addition; a  path over the water allowing you this rather pleasant view along the length of the lake. All very nice and would be improved only by removing the accumulated rubbish that has gathered by the shore but that's a quibble.

Now for something that makes no sense to me at all: a new low level fence erected around the lake shore at the most popular spot in the park. Is it to keep people out of the lake?  I've never heard of anyone falling in here, the odd rogue dog has jumped in so I've been told but so what. Or is it, as I suspect and knowing the mindset of Hull City Council, to stop birds from coming out of the lake to be fed by passers-by, heaven forfend that people should feed the ducks as they have done for over a hundred years: this has to be stopped. 

Old department store

The other day I went to East Park, a big mistake. Someone had turned it into a over sized playing field and filled it with thousands of screaming brats, yes, I'd forgotten it was still Easter Holidays and it seems the whole of east Hull had gone to the park for the day. Not a pretty sight. Strangely two of the park's attractions, if I may call them that, the water splash and the water park were not in action, neither were there any boats on the lake. Hull's parks department also seem to have taken a holiday. Anyhow, beating a hasty retreat I took this of what I think was once an old Cooperative department store on Holderness Road.

Carry on up the Khyber Pass

Details, details ... This little putto romping around with a sickle is according everything I can find an allegory of plenty or of Summer; take your pick. (I'm guessing that there are more similar putti in this series representing the other seasons but we only have the one that I know of.) It is situated in East Park's Khyber Pass where a bright stainless steel plaque close by informs us that "This "Folly" was originally the site of a copy of an Arab doorway from Zanzibar, used at the entrance to the East African Pavilion at the British Empire Exhibition held in 1928, and later erected in East Park in 1930." Which is all fine except the the British Empire Exhibition was held in 1924 but that's a mere detail compared to the claim that the folly was actually built in 1885-88 to commemorate the 'capture' (I use the word loosely) of the Khyber Pass by the British Army in the second Afghan War (see here for example). Now I have written in the past that the folly was built from bits of the old Tudor garrison that stood at the mouth of the river Hull. So what's going on? Well I think there's a pinch of truth in all these tales. Certainly a turret from the garrison was part of the folly but was moved to Victoria dock. The original Victorian folly must have been added to in the late 1920's as there was an Arab doorway in the past which has gone who knows where?

Anyhow here's what that East African Pavilion looked like back in 1924 in Wembley when the sun did not set on the British Folly, sorry Empire.

And here's the informative plaque

Ooopsy by Hull City Council

The weekend in black and white is here.

Autumn in East Park

I don't have much attraction to east Hull, it's a fairly bleak and dismal place with few attractions. But it does have East Park and at this time of year with the sun heading down it's a most pleasant place.

Protecting the East

 

 So to east Hull and a remnant of 16th & 17th century defense spending. This is nearly all that remains of a massive citadel that protected the approaches to Hull from attack by whoever the English government had annoyed at the time (probably most of Europe). There is a blue plaque to tell the passing stranger all about it; unfortunately it's so high up that it's almost unreadable. I had to take a photo just to find out what it said. This stump sits in the middle of a large modern housing estate.

Some of the citadel's demolition material was used to create the charmingly named Khyber Pass feature ( from a futile intrusion by Victorian Britain into Afghanistan, all part of the never ending great game )  in East Park. It's just a glorified rockery really. Sic transit, as they often say in these parts.

Stuart's Clock

Here's the brand new park clock in East Park. The money needed to erect it, some £20,000, was raised by one of the parks longest serving rangers, Stuart McDonald. It took him four years to raise the money by organizing games for the children who visited the park, Crazy golf, Tombolas, collections and Xmas events. Others have noticed there is no plaque to tell of his hard work and have suggested it be known as Stuart's Clock, a suggestion I'm all too happy to go along with. Well done to him and all who helped.

Here is Brindley Street and you can keep it.

There is a little stretch of East Hull that is dedicated to the memory of scientists and engineers of by-gone eras. Near East Park we find Newcomen, Savery, Telford, Kelvin, Faraday, Watt, Lodge Streets and so on and last but not least here is Brindley Street.

Brindley? who he? I hear you ask, (well I asked). James Brindley was an 18^th century  digger  of canals (really more a planner, others did the digging). OK the Bridgewater Canal since you ask, the start of all this hectic movement of goods and commerce, Industrial Revolution, the modern age and all that jazz. All his fault ... put the blame on James.
Fourteen or so years ago we almost bought a house on this street, a five bed-roomed monster of a terraced house. Dirt cheap (then) but no garden and quite a depressing outlook. Ended up buying a house on Portobello Street further along Holderness Road (a big mistake!). I noticed the Brindley Street house  is back on the market (you can just about make out the For Sale sign ). Am I tempted? Hah!

Menagerie Collage

When East Park was renovated they built an animal compound with a large walk-through aviary to replace an older more ramshackle affair. There's a motley collection of animals, birds and fishes though the deer that used to be in the park seem to have gone. 

But what's all this in East Park?

As if the good folks of Hull haven't just had a whole week of fun fairs another mini-fair springs up on my favourite tree lined avenue. Something to do with Hallowe'en and all that jazz no doubt. Well it was only a tiny part of the park used up so I suppose I mustn't grumble much.

The word tacky seems the most accurate description of  fun fairs.

I thought this land train was particularly tasteful.

Park bridge

After yesterday's colourful display here's the East Park bridge which I've shown several times before but never in black and white.

See the Weekend in Black & White here.

Autumn Colour

I may have moaned about the changes to East Park in previous postings but this avenue has thankfully been spared. The park was looking splendid yesterday as most of the trees were now at their Autumn best. You can see some more photos here.

More Winter Trees

East Park, Hull

Peacock Blues

Looking for animals to photograph for today's theme picture I came across these colourful peacocks stoically sitting out the wintry chill in East Park's animal enclosure.

Click here to see what other participants have posted.

Resting

East Park

Looking the other way from yesterday's post these are the ornamental flower beds that make such a colourful display in high Summer but are resting just now.

Not so pretty

When East Park was rejigged a few years ago a new animal enclosure was built with this particularly ugly fence surrounding it. It's not improved by the electric topping that accompanies it.