Hull City Centre - PART 2

I think this building was the original British Home Stores, before it moved into the part of the old Co-op store (or maybe it was Littlewoods?).

 

Haha beat me to it!

 

Great to see these old photos, one thing that gets me is it is a shame there isn't a better memorial to those that died in that building in Queen Victoria Square, people just walk over it without knowing

 

Can't get these photos to open could just be me though

 

Great post dazzer as usual.

In terms of landlords continuing to charge high rents, I read some months again that this is symptomatic of investors borrowing from the banks and trying to maintain the value of their assets based on rental value in a depressed market.

Whitefriargate will recover but with the current recession hitting hard it will be later rather than sooner unfortunately.

Many of the buildings on the south side of the street are owned by Trinity House - not sure why they can't reduce rents and attract new retail business though.

 

If I've got my bearings right, is that purple one now Waterstones?

 

His photos from the River Hull in 1994 are excellent

 

I love seeing those old pictures of Hull, some superb buildings and its a crying shame what can happen without due care and attention. Sadly the 60's and 70's saw the loss of a number of stunning buildings and features with the cropping up of what was all so trendy at the time but you'd be amazed at what features might be hidden beneath some tiresome cladding.

With regards dazzar's first post it definitely sounds an intriguing idea. Whitefriargate needs reinventing and this sort of continental quarter might just be the thing to achieve this (particularly if the raw-materials are already there with the architectural influences). Of course the idea depends on a number of things... rents, willingness of council and landlords, existing shops and users and how they would compete or complement the quarter, and primarily the first two or three businesses willing to buy into the idea. Continental markets always seem very popular so the issue would be two-fold, firstly, could the appeal be sustained year-round, and secondly, how would they all integrate with one-another.

Hull seems to struggle in sustaining what is quite a vast city centre for the size of the city itself. St Stephens etc are far too detached from Whitefriargate and the marina etc and as a result the problems are exacerbated when more people are pulled towards shiny new facilities like those at St Stephens. Therefore, as already said, these areas constantly need to reinvent themselves and some have had more success than others. Incidentally, I've not been to the city centre itself for ages but how is the Prospect Centre area coping nowadays? You'd expect them to benefit from the increased footfall toward St Stephens.

And for what it's worth, I don't actually believe the Portas Pilot is much cop at all and her review was just regurgitating planning ideas of old. The key to a viable town or city centre remains very basic; its ability to offer facilities to all groups of society and all year round.

 

That website is superb.

 

Check this:

http://mylearning.org/the-hull-blitz/images/2-3265/

 

Well with all the bad press we get, I was pleased to see that Wikitravel has Hull as destination of the month.

 

the only place you need is the facebook group - hull the good old days , the pics on there are fantastic and sometimes saddening really .

Even if you dont use FB its worth registering just for that one Group. HONEST

 

There use to be a small shop on Hessle Road that sold old photographs of Hull, some amazing pictures from small postcard size to A4, various quality and various prices. Can't remember what they called the shop and to be honest not sure if its still there. It was situated near the roundabout towards Hawthorn Avenue where most of the traffic filters onto Hessle Road after coming off the flyoever.

I still maintain, and have always maintained that Hull is not as bad as some factions of the press depict but its an uphill struggle to maintain that stance with other people. I've heard complaints about St Stephens, but the land on which it stands was empty for many years, the old Northern Dairies I mean, and the old bus station was a disgrace. Princes Quay was a derelict dock for many a year but still the moaners had a good at the shopping centre being built, the usual, taking trade away from the other shops, but no one comes up with a viable alternative of what to do with these areas.

And we are off on the same track again as plans have been published to turn the old Lord Line building and dock into something that might just tidy the area up, its been an eyesore for many many years but the moaners are all ready at it. I do despair that some people do have a moaning mentality as regards anything that might actually be beneficial to the city, goodness knows we need all we can get, any news on Siemens arriving yet?

 

Is this the bit at the end of the Marina, where there's that newish bridge going to The Deep?

Either way, I've heard conflicting stuff about this area. Some people saying it's flagged up for funding and a facelift, some saying it's not anymore.

I hope it is. That's my manor!