Moths

2017 will be Hull's turn as UK City of Culture. It's a well deserved title, because Hull has a lot of public art as well as significant gallery collections. Currently there's a flight of moth sculptures scattered around the city to commemorate aviator Amy Johnson, who was born in the city.  For more about Amy click here.

This was the first one we found on our recent trip to Hull. (It's Mr Anorak's home town, of course.) It's called Horizon's Path and was created by artist Sam Tasker. The blue bit represents the freedom of the skies, the maroon bit signifies women's equality, and the white line represents Amy's flight path to Australia.

This is called Engineer, and it was painted by Hannah van Green.  It's a mark of respect for Amy's mechanical skills.

This is World Moth by an artist called Pinky.  It's inspired by the fact that Amy flew half way round the world, and represents some of the landscapes she must have passed along the way.

And here we have Air Mail by David Graham. It charts Amy's flight path and each of the stamps and post marks represents a time and place where she touched down. It also shows various ways that post has taken to the skies over the years - including by pigeon!

And here's Fly High, also by Pinky. It's supposed to represent Amy's achievements, both as a flyer and in her personal life, overcoming attitudes to women at the time.

The exhibition continues until March 2017.

Ghosts

You're bound to have seen them, but you've probably not taken too much notice of them. They can be found all over most towns and many villages. They are advertisements for trades and businesses long gone. They're known as ghost signs - and they offer a glimpse into the past.

Let's start with this one from the corner of Market Place in Cirencester. With a bit of effort you can see it says Scotland House Frank Jones The Popular Clothier
There's also at least one '& Co' and something that looks like it ends with ...nson  and a VERY faint extra 'ouse', which I assume was an earlier rendering of House.

Here's a fine example from the harbourside in Ipswich. Fison's were well known as an agricultural chemicals company and they started life in this Suffolk town.

This one is near the River Trent by Sawley, Nottinghamshire. It's a bit of a pleasure spot these days and from what you can decipher on this wall that's been the case for a while. Thomas someone (I can't make out a second name) offered boats for hire, accommodation, teas and mineral waters.

One of my favourites. It could only be in one town. Wholesale jet merchants were a feature of Whitby, where the rare black gemstone appears in the local rocks. You'll find this one close by the swing bridge.

And here's another beauty from round the back of the East Riding Museum in Hull. It's a lovely slice of the town's history. Among the words you can just make out are "Hull River Craft Owners"  "Steam Tug Owners" and there's a wool merchant in there somewhere.

This post was for Five on Friday run by Amy at Love Made My Home. Sadly, Amy has 'stuff' to deal with and Five has been suspended temporarily.

Five more from Hull

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Here we are again on a a Friday and it's time to join in with Amy at Love Made My Home to discuss five things that have some relevance to us.  As you know we recently went to Hull and I've done a number of posts on both blogs about the visit and the city.

This week I'm taking a look around the Marina, which used to be Hull's heart and the centre of the port. It's still a busy harbour, but the kind of large pleasure craft it handles today don't need the heavyweight support systems that were in regular use when heavy shipping paid call.

As you walk around the area look down at your feet and you'll find plenty of these. Back in the days when cargo ships brought in and took out heavy loads many goods were transported by rail - right to the harbourside. The rails are still in place in many of the cobbled streets leading to the old dock.

This mooring post gives you some idea of the size of ship that used to call in to Hull. There's not a lot of clues for size until you realise that's a fence post. So yes, the bollard is about 18" to 2ft high.

Then there's this amazing bit of kit that stands inside a glass shelter by the quay. I apologise for the reflections. It's a horizontal steam engine that used to stand by the slipway leading to the Victoria Dock half tide basin. It was used to haul ships out of the river when they needed bringing in for repair.

This bell stood close by Victoria Dock too. It was used to warn people when the swing bridge over the lock (where ships gained entry to the dock) was about to open.  It's silent now, which is a shame.

And finally we have the Spurn light ship.  Spurn point is the end of the land spit that separates the Humber from the North Sea.  One of the problems with a tidal river is that silt, mud and sand gets moved around by the flow of water coming in and out of the estuary. Consequently the channel can be difficult to navigate because of the constantly changing hazards. The Spurn light ship was one of several fixed lights and moveable beacons that helped ships find safe passage to and from the sea.

So now you've had a wander around Hull Marina, pop over to Love Made My Home to see other Friday fives!

* Map borrowed from http://www.weather-forecast.com/ with thanks.