Mary's Blog

I haven’t visited Hull for some considerable time – years.

When my daughters visited from Suffolk and Devon over the Christmas break we decided to pay a visit to the city centre. We were partly motivated by a much publicised pantomime that my granddaughter “Summer” wanted to see and the free parking. We all drove down Anlaby Road to Albion Street car park, which we used a lot in the past.

Albion street car park and its derelict buildings

I wasn’t prepared for the shock in store! The former Edwin Davis building has become a habitat for local vermin and pigeons – how comfortable for them. Broken windows, dereliction throughout. Next to that was the former Co-op building also in a right old state of repair. Opposite Edwin Davis lays the former Police offices. Rest in peace. Is this the spectacle Hull is reserving for visitors to the ‘City of Culture’? I felt a real sense of sadness for this once bustling city I knew in the sixties, seventies and even eighties. My eldest daughter visited Russia in the eighties and made the unfortunate comparison…

Whatever has happened?  At least Scope has a decent, modern shop to encourage folk with a spare bob or two and Radio Humberside looks smart on the corner near Queens Gardens. Fortunately, Whitefriargate still appears to be thriving too.

When I see this kind of lack of development, I really wonder why Hull City Council wants to spread its wings. Why does it want to swallow other boundary areas for expansion when its own inner city has gaping areas of brown field sites. Surely it is easier to develop inner city brown field sites than lush residential areas in the suburbs?

It’s not surprising that Hull citizens find Anlaby Retail Park such an attraction!