Off Topic Hull: City of Culture

Great post.

I don't know how it will all be judged when the dust has settled, but I think most people will agree it has massively exceeded local expectations.

It also seems to have modified the character of the centre, making it more sophisticated and welcoming.

As we all know, this city has log been rubbished by outsiders and the number of 'eat my words' confessional articles has been hugely gratifying, as so many people who have never been here before and had formed a negative 'run down fishing village' opinion have realised how wrong they were.

You cannot build in character and history: Hull has it with its people and its buildings. Other more affluent towns and cities don't especially the nearer to London you get.

I saw the other CoC2021 towns last night on the news and realised how glum they all seemed. We forget how the CoC has transformed the mood locally.

A big shout out to Adam Pearson. I believe he started the ball rolling when took over at BP. From then on this city has started to believe and achieve. The only cloud in the sky locally has been the current owners at Hull City who seem determined to rain on the parade at every chance they get.

 

Good post. A certain fat-arsed politician by the name of John Prescott could have done this when he was 'Minster Of Transport'...But what did he do for this city? I'll tell you, Jack $hit.

The lack of a viable transport link, particularly a motorway, has made Hull a difficult place to get to. No other city in the UK of a similar size to Hull is not served by a motorway going to its front door.

When the City of Culture caravan moves away, people will quickly forget and Hull will soon go back to been a boil on the arse of the world, in some people's estimations, usually southerners who have never been anywhere north of Watford Gap. But we all know different. Its our City and we'll care for it, no matter what.

 

It' on until Sunday night.

 

It is, my mistake.

 

I demand that the other thread has its title amended.

 

You have, as the young ‘uns say, ‘won the internet’ with that post !

 

Thank you all for your comments and 'likes' I'm glad my post resonated with so many of you, as I said I've forgotten some of the stuff already and one remarkable part of the C of C I shamefully forgot was the nude photography. Who would have thought that 3,000 people, or so, many total strangers, male and female, would strip off naked and then paint themselves blue. Then on a chilly Sunday morning walk around the city centre and lay down on the roads and pavements in various locations to have the gathering photographed by one of the worlds top photographers in such matters. I mean, men and women, strangers, laid head to toe with each other, totally naked and they had a massive response for such people to take part. I saw the resulting pictures in Ferens, they were enlarged, which only made the spectacle more amazing when you realised how close these people were to each other. By all accounts those who took part were proud to do so they wanted to be involved, which is part of what I wrote about how this C of C thing has galvanized the populace.

I never took part in this, nor did I apply to be a volunteer, but plenty of people did, and that's the point, so many people have worked hard to make this thing work, despite the sniping from the few, despite some of the abuse hurled by those who don't have a good thing to say about anything or anyone. And I am well aware that despite all the gloss of this years occasion problems still exist in our re-modeled city centre. I have taken many photos as there was so much to photograph, some obligatory in a way, such as with the blade. I've even cycled down to where the Siemens factory is and seen the blades lined up ready for collection, different colours and some transparent. So for me it hasn't just been about the actual events taking place it's being able to look around and see things that haven't grabbed the headlines. Of course being retired helps in this respect, I mean I cycled all the down to Siemens then on to King George Dock. It was a glorious day, the Humber was like a mill pond and I took some pictures with my phone camera. As I did so I noticed a guy with a proper camera taking pictures in the same area and he asked if I minded posing for some background shots he was taking.

I agreed and he took 3 pictures, and some of some other people nearby, he told me his name and said that he would have an exhibition on display in Princes Quay on a certain date and that I would feature in the exhibition. So off I went on the appointed date to this exhibition to see the results of my posing, and there was the shot of me, from the back, leaning against my bike, with the river in the background LOL. Great picture of my bald patch but no sign of my face, mind you that's a good thing, fame, but no fortune.

 

Scale lane staith on a night time, with the bells now ringing, a suitably peaceful place to appreciate the small distance it is, from the hussle and bussle.
Being so far at the end of line,
You feel more now than ever, you are at the centre of everything that matters.

3moreyears

 

Still taking in some C of C stuff whilst I can, this time some photographs of Hull folk and Hull's links with food. They are being shown at the Humber St Gallery, above the cafe where Dead Bod is on display, I thought the photos were ok, the black and white one were just portraits of Hull's youth, basically w.y. s, i. w. y. g. The food bit was food now available with all the different culture shops that have sprung up around the city. Interesting, also interesting was the rooftop bar, not open by the way, but I had a look and saw some unforeseen, well for me, views of the city, and I took some pictures. Bit iffy underfoot where no gritting was done but otherwise a nice day for a stroll. Took a couple of pictures in the gallery as well but not sure about copyright so I've left them out.

 

Venice of the North

 

Sorry... but no, simply no.

 

Yeah we don't have that permanent Dame Judy or the Jap tourists

 

You really shouldn't be out in heavy snow like that. Death trap

 

Hope you put your snow tyres on.

 

Mind you some of us still live in the past, eh.
JAP made good speedway engines. I didnt realise that they were made in Venice

 

Amazing - we should be very, very proud

 

This has been a terrific thread. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who has contributed so much interesting and enjoyable cultural material; it really has made me very proud to belong to Kingston Upon Hull.

 

Hopefully this is just the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end...

Or some **** like that.