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  • Hull – King William III Statue (King Billy’s Statue)

    Hull – King William III Statue (King Billy’s Statue)

    This is what can only really be described as an early bit of bling, the gilded statue of King William III. The statue was designed by Peter Scheemaker in 1734, although it wasn’t gilded until 1768. And perhaps they overdid a bit by doing that…. The statue was paid for by public subscription and they raised an impressive £785, which is nearly £100,000 in today’s money.

    It’s also not located in a marvellous part of Hull, as it’s a bit of a traffic hub now. Once it was the city’s marketplace and its location near to the Minster was quite salubrious, but not really any longer. The one positive that there was, which was the William III pub next door to the statue, has also now closed down.

  • Hull – Nelson Street Toilets

    Hull – Nelson Street Toilets

    I don’t normally feel the need to take photos of toilets and then upload them on-line, but I’ve made an exception here. These toilets were constructed in 1926 and they are now listed, such is their heritage. There used to be a charge to use them, but they’re now free and the attendant’s window has been closed off.

    Very decorative. The toilets got some international acclaim when Lonely Planet decided to list them as one of the most important things to see in the UK. I’m not quite sure that I would have gone that far, but it’s impressive when public facilities survive undamaged.

    A sink. Or as the listed building record notes with rather more details:

    “Edward Johns and Co Limited, scalloped white and cobalt blue stoneware hand sink that is attached to the dividing W wall”.

    How lovely.

  • No Ice…..

    No Ice…..

    This review is for a Wetherspoons in Blyth, another really helpful and detailed review on TripAdvisor so customers can judge whether they’d like to visit. Such a shame there are nearly no solutions to this, other than just ordering at the bar or taking the bloody ice out of the glass if that is somehow some huge problem.

    The TripAdvisor site is nearly completely shot, I’ve reported racist reviews, reviews in the wrong place, fake reviews and none of them are ever removed. I don’t suppose Wetherspoons will worry too much about reviews like this, but they must be so soul-destroying for smaller businesses……

  • Hull – Will You Walk a Little Faster?

    Hull – Will You Walk a Little Faster?

    I think this in my mind a lot of times during the day about someone walking in front of me…..

  • Hull – Three Ships Mural

    Hull – Three Ships Mural

    It looks like the end for the Three Ships mural in Hull, which the city council has said can be demolished. It’s a clever design, spelling out the word Hull and also focusing on the city’s maritime heritage. There are a quite staggering one million pieces of glass in the mural, which was designed by Alan Boyson in 1963 for what was then the Co-op building.

    It’s the largest such mural in the country and there is currently a petition to save it, with a separate letter being signed by Sir Tom Courtenay, Al Murray, Kate Fox, Bob Stanley and Kevin McCloud. The Co-op were later replaced by BHS, but their demise has seen the building left empty and the site is now earmarked to be used for the £130 million Albion Square redevelopment.

    The council is claiming that the mural can’t be saved because there is asbestos in the building and they said that HSE wouldn’t let them separate the mural from the wall. I’m not sure why the HSE wouldn’t let this happen if appropriate safety procedures were followed, but it doesn’t look very positive for this wonderful mural.

  • Hull – Ferens Art Gallery (In the Cinema by Malcolm Drummond)

    Hull – Ferens Art Gallery (In the Cinema by Malcolm Drummond)

    This artwork was painted in 1913 and so it is a relatively early depiction of a visit to the cinema, not a subject that I’ve seen portrayed like this before. A dark cinema doesn’t seem to be the most obvious thing to show, but it’s quite evocative, a bit Lowry in terms of the working person being anonymously portrayed.

    The Ferens Art Gallery purchased the artwork in 1969 and the Guinness Movie Facts book claims that this is the first painting known in existence of an audience watching a film inside a cinema.

  • Hull – Ferens Art Gallery (Fun Bag by Victoria Sin)

    Hull – Ferens Art Gallery (Fun Bag by Victoria Sin)

    Not being the sharpest knife in the drawer at times, I don’t always get what modern art, or indeed other mediums such as performance art, is trying to tell me. So, it’s helpful to have the gallery provide some context and meaning to an artwork.

    And, I quote:

    “Here they combine everyday objects to create a work that questions the representation of women in the media”.

    OK, I’m not quite getting that message, but it’s an important one and I like it. But, this artwork had somewhat perkier balloons at one stage, so I’m guessing that the artist is trying to suggest that the slow withering away of the balloons is equivalent to the challenges which females have when they age.

    But it probably means something else, and judging from what others have written about it, I’m confident that it does and it’s something wider about sexuality. However, since it made me think, that’s a win for the artwork….. And there’s one nice element about art, everyone can have their own interpretations of works, even though mine are usually wrong.

  • Hull – Chilli Devil’s Real Ale and Chilli Bar

    Hull – Chilli Devil’s Real Ale and Chilli Bar

    I’m really not sure that I’ve ever visited a pub, or indeed restaurant, that specialises in craft beer and chillis. But I think that this is a great idea, and I strongly approve. This pub is in the Good Beer Guide and, as the advertising on their window suggests, it’s also the smallest pub in Hull, so I wanted to get there early when I knew that I could get a seat.

    I didn’t have any problems getting a seat and I was the only customer for the entirety of my visit. Still, friendly staff member and there’s a nice vibe to the place, although I’m sure it’s all a bit more charming in terms of the atmosphere later on in the day.

    They weren’t selling any chilli dishes when I was there, although I knew that before I went in as they chalk up the options on a board outside (and they actually chalk up the options above the bar, and I’ve just noticed they do have one up here, which I missed at the time). If there was definitely a chilli available, I might well have been tempted though. Although, the pub doesn’t accept credit or debit cards, which is a marginally surprising decision as I’ve seen very few pubs stick rigidly to this. To be fair, they make this clear outside and inside, so no-one would be surprised. And it made no difference to me, since I was always intending to pay with cash.

    Now, this was very lovely indeed, the Tonkoko Milk Stout. Very rich, creamy, coconuty and the strong flavours which I like. I was very tempted to get another half pint of it, but I had more pubs to visit in the city, but it’s one of the best beers I’ve had in a while.

    All in all, a really charming little pub, and another deserved entrant into the Good Beer Guide. The local CAMRA group really haven’t let me down this week.

     

  • Hull – Ye Olde White Hart

    Hull – Ye Olde White Hart

    I’m running out of time in Hull, so I’m making a renewed effort to get through all of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide pubs in the city centre.

    This pub is packed with history and is located down an alley in its own courtyard, which some of the best historic pubs are. There are some stories about this pub, including that it was where the meeting was held where it was decided that King Charles I would be refused entrance at the Beverley Gate in the city. The building was then a private residential property and looking at the listed building description, those dates don’t really quite match up. But, this was indeed a late seventeenth century property and so it’s interesting solely for that.

    It became a pub, or at least was heavily remodelled into a pub, in 1871 and there are four main rooms, two up and two down. The downstairs two both have large fireplaces and do have a lot of character, being pretty much unchanged in design (although not the bars themselves which are more modern) since they were installed. Looking at some of the local press in 1877, the pub owners advertised the opening of the “King Charles’s Room” and the “Plotting Parlour”, so this is where the myth appears to have started. They also advertised that they provided “solid and liquid refreshments” and they mentioned they had 1,000 cigars in stock, and the pub was also at the time a hotel as well.

    Nothing exceptionally exciting was available in terms of the real ales, but I’m always happy to have Theakston’s Old Peculier and this was well kept and tasted as it should. Service was OK, but the barman had that very mildly irritating habit of returning my change whilst talking and facing the next customer. Nothing says “sod off” better than that that in a pub which isn’t even busy. Well, there are quite a few things which would be ruder, but at least a pretend thank you would be nice. I think the Hop and Vine yesterday has raised my expectations…..

    One of the two downstairs rooms, this is the one by the main bar. Very atmospheric and quite dark, although that suits the pub nicely (I mean because it fits in with the decor, not because it’s sinister). Some of the beams in the pub apparently have burn marks on from a fire which broke out in 1883. However, it was so dark I had no chance of making that out.

    Does the pub really need that AWP there? I’m not sure it’s entirely in keeping with the rest of the interior.

    The fireplace is more in keeping and there’s one in the other room as well.

    There was limited seating available, so I went to sit by the second bar in a corner. This bar slightly annoyed me, it seemed entirely pointless and of limited historic integrity. I didn’t think much more about that until reading that the pub themselves wanted to get rid of it, but there was local opposition so they weren’t allowed to. It seems like a waste of space to me, I can imagine the pub managers weren’t thrilled being told that they had to leave it in situ.

    It’s a bit difficult to tell given the Halloween decorations, but the pub is known for having the skull of a younger person on display. It’s encased to protect it and can be seen in the middle of this photo. I’m really not sure it’s very dignified to put a Strongbow Carnevil promotion top of a real skull, that’s quite tacky. Although, I suppose, if you’re putting a skull on display that you’ve found in the pub then the bar has already been lowered.

    An animal head with Halloween decoration. I’m sure that the pub probably is haunted, as it certainly has enough heritage to deserve its own ghost, and they do have paranormal investigations here.

    The pub is very well reviewed and it’s history mean that it’s worth popping in for a quick drink. Or, for that matter, a slow drink.

  • Hull – Minerva

    Hull – Minerva

    And carrying on my tour of Hull pubs which are listed in the Good Beer Guide, the Minerva is located by the old docks area of the city. There was quite a vibrant feel (I sometime use that word to subtly suggest that there was a riot taking place, but in this instance, it was relaxed and lively) in that area of the city, somewhere that I haven’t been before.

    My first impressions were very positive, as I had hoped to get food and beer, but they looked full so I was planning to move on. However, a staff member was more than keen to assist and she found me a table that I could have for 90 minutes to myself. Although this transpired to be a table for 14 people, it more than met my needs. I sat towards one end, but on reflection I should have perhaps sat in the middle and tried to look important. The reason for seating me here was that they had the 14 people arriving around 90 minutes later, so I had a marginally limited window of time, although I was nowhere near to needing that long.

    Anyway, that welcome is also wonderful, as a pub doesn’t know why someone might be visiting on their own. They might just be on a seemingly endless tour of British pubs (oops….) or they might have made a real effort to go out so they weren’t on their own. Some pubs deal with this really badly, their set-up isn’t designed for single visitors and they don’t make it particularly easy. This pub managed to offer the perfect welcome and this sort of effort makes it much easier to encourage single diners and drinkers out, with Wetherspoons and Greene King now having apps to order at the table also making the process a little less stressful.

    I nearly added this pub to my list of the best of the year, but this beer selection just isn’t really relevant to me. They’ve got six ales on, which are all light and some of them are quite generic. They’ve lined up six sample jars in front of the pumps and I was struggling to see much difference in the colour of any of them. They did have Tetley’s best bitter on, which I’m quite partial to, and it’s the only permanent fixture here, but I was hoping for something a little different.

    There’s the only real option open to me, Marston’s Oyster Stout, and I do like the taste of this, smooth but with a taste of molasses or something similar. But, the temperature of the beer was a little cold for my liking, that was served at a chiller temperature rather than cellar temperature, and I prefer the latter. That reminds me of when a rep came to a pub I had many years ago and told me how excited they were about the new trend of extra cold beers. He then admitted that the extra cold version of his beer was proving very popular, but they themselves thought it tasted of nearly nothing as the taste had been knocked out by the extra chilled temperature. That wasn’t a problem here, but it’s why I was a little disappointed there wasn’t something more interesting in the real ale section.

    The fish and chips, which was well presented and the portion size was more than adequate. The tartare sauce was homemade and is one of the best I’ve had, it had what I think were large pieces of gherkin in and it was creamy and very moreish. The fish batter could have perhaps been drained just a little more, but it was flavoursome and the fish flaked away nicely. The chips were again home-made and the mushy peas actually tasted of peas, which is something I’ve yet to have in a Greene King pub, where I’ve wondered what they make their peas from. I think it’s flour mixed with green paint and water. Anyway, I shouldn’t be mentioning Greene King, that’s twice in one blog post.

    CAMRA mention that this pub is owned by the city council and it was built on reclaimed land in 1829. I saw the smallest pub room in the country, which is really just a small snug which can only hold a couple of people. I couldn’t really take a photo as there were two people in there eating, although I suppose I could have done a a walk-by photo and hoped they didn’t notice. Not really good to invade privacy that much, but it was a fun little part of the pub. And apparently, although I didn’t see it, they’ve got a theatre and brewery area to the side of the pub.

    Anyway, I thought that this pub was excellent, and the staff were all customer service orientated, including the serving staff and those behind the bar. Customers were served in turn, the staff were friendly and the serving staff made a big effort to find me a table. I could have done with a better selection of real ale, which seems a bizarre comment for somewhere that serves six different ones, as then I could have elevated the pub into exceptional status. As it was, it was just excellent, so all very lovely.