wow I forgot about that northern foods building and it hasnt even been that long since it was knocked down was it lol
Only just seen this Stanley and what a treasure I can look and talk about Hull of bygone days for ages just so disappointed so much has gone from before the war and from my childhood era. I lived down Hawthorn Ave for a great part of my early life and knew most passages and which walls to climb over instead of going all the way round to get the the next street, White St to Clyde St for an example and Greek St to Cecil St was another. And then not so long back I went for a walk down Hawthorn and I was lost, literally lost as quite a bit had been knocked down, Rhodes St, Cecil St, Greek St, Haddon St, Haltemprice St, all gone and I just looked at an empty space, my childhood bulldozed away, a sobering moment for me. (And no I wasn't drunk). Thanks for the link by the way.
I started my working life in the Lord Line building, so it is sad that it is not being used for a something positive, and maintains it's external character.
Broadys faded because 'Mr Broady' died and his son didn't want to take it on. The company was bought by a local construction company and eventually went out of business due to a downturn in business. I remember it was front page news at the time. No conspiracy theory here I'm afraid.
I actually put an idea for using Whitefriargate as a place for eating to a member of the councils prop services dept about a year ago, also suggested that Lowgate should be closed to traffic from Liberty Lane to Alfred Gelder st which would open up the area to High st. Had this been done in the 70s Hull could have benefiited from the tourists that ended up going to York when getting off the ferry. I also put forward that lock gates be put on the end of the river Hull which would turn it to fresh water, remove the silt and how much better it would look and become attractive to developers. This is something that the council need to start acting on now, so that when the goernment is looking to open the purse strings we have something ready instead of missing the boat and seeing the likes of Leeds and Sheffield getting the money.
In the same way that the lock gates work on King George dock it really is no different. It may even be possible to use the tidal barrier instead of needing an inner set of gates. Water coming dwn the Hull would be pumped into he Humber. Dredging would be needed on the moyh of the Hull to stop the build up of silt. This could have been done when Victoria dock was open using the lock gates of it and the set that situated at what is now the turning point behind the former Ranks Clarence mill. Silt could have built up and the area from the pier to the mill would eventually be developed, ie the deep and pier would not be seperated.
Has something changed? When this has been suggested in the past, it was deemed as unfeasible by the engineers and needing an Act of Parliament to restrict the flow of river traffic, as it has priority.
So not really a feasible option for the Sammys point area, especially as it's the working end of the river? A few years ago, it was looked at creating a less ambitious version that would simply hold the river levels so it could be used for river buses. It was decided even the less complex methods were not viable.
Is the kind of ambitous project the city needs to help change its image and stimulate development along the river right up to stoneferry. If this had been muted 20 years ago it might have been well on the way before the 2008 financial crash. Now is he time to look at projects like this, money will become available again, and the city needs to be prepared for that time.
The only project I have seen lately that is actually going to take place in the city centre is Mally Welbournes train. And even that isn't nailed on yet.
The idea in the end was to look at the possibility of using the Tidal Barrier to trap the water in at low tide, then lift it up at high tide to allow river traffic to still pass up and down the river.
Just to finish on this one, as i said earlier money will become available again, in the budget mersey gateway as basically given £274 m. Starting now could have a chance of the river project been ready to go by 2020 when uk is expected to have a surplus.
