10 January 2016

Images

Hello again. Your jolly blog host saw  some ugly weather in the past week. Grey skies, teaming rain and puddles. The swishing of windscreen wipers. One's coat hood pulled up in eskimo fashion. One's little face peeping out with mouth turned down. Early January - rarely the best time of year in the northern hemisphere.

Yet there were some clement hours when the rain went home for lunch and Mr Sun peeped through the clouds. On Friday afternoon, your jolly blog host wandered around a part of Sheffield that overlooks the Don Valley. In the city's industrial past, this valley was our smoky workshop. The thumping of steam hammers. The blinding satanic glow  of furnaces. Workers lived in terraced streets that marched up the valley side. But that was then and this is now.
"The Grapes Inn", Burngreave
Sutherland Road and the city's modern "Energy Recovery"  incinerator
Maxwell Way, Burngreave
Rear of an industrial building on Forncett Street
On Saturday, I drove over to Hull to watch The Tigers with old friend Tony. It was the third round of the F.A.Cup and we deservedly beat Brighton thanks to a Robert Snodgrass penalty that almost burst the net. On the way over, I followed a voluntary diversion into the town of Goole (Population 17,500).

It is where my brother Robin was born and it is still a significant inland port. Happily, neither of the parking ticket machines in the car park were working so I was able to write a joyful message on an envelope "Machine Not Working - 11.30am" and this I duly left on my dashboard before strolling about the town like a secret agent on a spying mission.

An hour and twenty minutes was not long enough. Your jolly blog host must go back to see some more including the Yorkshire Waterways Museum, Old Goole and the docks. Without clever drainage methods and without the docks, Goole would not even exist. It is a flat, watery and characterful settlement at the end of the River Ouse, close to the meeting places of other rivers that feed into The Humber.

Admittedly, all the words typed above were just an excuse for posting more pictures. Image is everything.
The cloctower erected in 1926 to mark the centenary of the town's docks
The Seaman's Memorial in Goole
Town on the left. River Ouse on the right.
The banking is vital to prevent flooding.
"The Macintosh Arms" on Aire Street
Named after docks engineer Hugh Macintosh

19 comments:

  1. I can tell that you were really grabbed by the Goolies, like your borther.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Goole is a funny name isn't it Mr SP? It reminds me of ghoul, goolies and perhaps Google. I wonder if people might say, "Just a minute, I'll goole it!"
      P.S. What is a "borther"? No wonder you are Mr SP!

      Delete
  2. I'd love to have a levee like that along the Cosumnes River. The one we have is bare sandy soil, with lots of gopher holes and old tree roots in it. An "accident" waiting to happen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Much of the banking and drainage in that area was undertaken long ago by Dutch enginers. Now those people really do know about living with water.

      Delete
  3. I did google it! Of course, I have to know where I am walking. That is a small village with a lot of monuments. I bet young people just can't wait to get out of there. Just like in small, rural villages and towns here.

    Wikipedia says that the name is Middle English meaning "stream" or "channel" or even "outlet drain".

    The Dale Sisters of the '60's were born there as well as your brother, Roger. Four slightly famous people.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My brother might like to roger but that is not his name! It's Robin. It pleases me greatly that my little expeditions spark your research MT. I think you are right about young people wanting to leave Goole. It is not a place where many dreams are made.

      Delete
    2. So sorry, Mr Pudding. Robin, of course.

      Delete
  4. Yorkshire does have an atmosphere all of its own, doesn't it, no matter whereabouts you are.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aye lass tha's reeght theer! Does tha fancy t'cuppa?

      Delete
  5. Goole sounds and looks like a fascinating place, one of the kind that gives a visitor his or her own time to discover it without jumping up and down, shouting "here! here!" all the time.
    The second picture with the road going downhill and the incinerator in the background has an almost unreal quality about it, as if you'd photoshopped two pictures together.
    The one with the rear of the building on Forncett Street is my favourite of this lot. Without being able to say why, there is something about it that really speaks to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your customary thoughtful responses Miss Arian. Much appreciated.

      Delete
  6. The grapes looks neater than i remember it

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You knew this "Grapes" then John and not the one on Trippet Lane?

      Delete
  7. Images and a good story to go with them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are almost too kind Red. I like your style.

      Delete
  8. I'm not sure how I came to miss this post, but miss it I did. To be honest, I suppose it's because I've had my eyes glued mostly on the tennis this past week or so!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Or perhaps now that you are an award winning blogging celebrity you have left your meagre roots behind - eschewing blogs like this old one.

      Delete
  9. Great images! I especially like the pub and the rear of the industrial building.

    ReplyDelete
  10. If you had turned around on Forncett Street you would probably have seen the fellow who lives in the hollow in the wall. His sleeping bag is there most days, rain or shine, protruding into the street. I've been told he's been there over a year but I don't know his story.

    ReplyDelete

Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

Most Visits