Thursday 28 February 2008

Floods of Vans

Yesterday we set out to map the Wold Road area of Hull. Jean lived there many years ago, so she knew most of the area well, though some has changed a lot. There have been the usual fill-in developments. Some of the places Jean played as a girl are now built on. Some places off Priory road are very new, especially the compact and pleasant retirement bungalows. Development is still under way at the very edge of the city boundaries.

The most striking thing about the journey was the huge number of builders' vans in some of the older, narrower streets. They lined both sides of the streets with very little room to pass. There were vans and small lorries making deliveries some temporarily blocking the road because there was no alternative. There were skips full of building rubbish everywhere. In between these vans and skips were large numbers of caravans of all shapes and sizes squeezed into any available space. This is the continuing aftermath of the floods in Hull last June - people were living in the caravans. Anyone who thought the level of damage was being hyped should take a walk down Westlands road or Moorhouse Road. This was a normal Wednesday afternoon eight months after the flood.

It was a sobering sight.

Monday 25 February 2008

Beverley Beck

We was a short item on the local TV about Beverley Beck. I didn't really know the area, so a short trip gave us the low down. We checked out the small estates south of the beck and some of the new, smart-looking mews apartments which used to be waterside factories. We then drove along the small road that borders the beck to the place it joins the river Hull. Here there is a lock to keep the beck levels up. I guess the beck is really a canal today, even though it may once have been a small stream. The road beside the beck is pretty exposed, with nothing to stop a careless driver from becoming a submarine captain. I tried to follow the road on the north side of the beck, but it ends quickly - at least it has railings.

Thursday 21 February 2008

Local targets

We have mapped a few local villages and hamlets. All went well, but, as usual, there were the unexpected finds. Today we found a little road, called Shepherds Way, that joins the two main roads that run south from Beverley. It was always there. People must use it every day. Some people probably rely on it. I didn't know it was there only a few miles from my home.

The number of villages and hamlets in East Yorkshire that need completing is steadily going down. It is now only 197 - that is one hundred and ninety seven. This means about 30% are complete. This includes removing some from the list that were added from old maps that are no longer in copyright (so we can copy from them) , but these villages are no longer occupied.

Things may not be as bad as it seems. Some villages are complete but the person who mapped it didn't update the list - why should they?

Sunday 17 February 2008

Wetwang

We took a drive out in our new (to us) car, and took in some of the Wolds villages. The cluster of little places south west of Driffield were not complete, so we drove through Southburn, Kirkburn, and Tibthorpe. There were not many road names on show and the small places rushed past. We headed towards Huggate and then turned towards Wetwang.

We checked out the streets of Wetwang quite quickly - it's not a big place - and headed towards the Garton on the Wolds to join a road that is still not on the map. On the way home we finished a couple of roads in Kilnwick and realised there was still more to do nearby, but a cup of tea was calling from home and I couldn't resist it.

There are now only a few roads around Lockington, including some of the village streets to complete in that area. Indeed there are only Bishop Burton and Cherry Burton to complete to finish the diamond from the Humber to Driffield and from Market Weighton to Beverley even though the towns at the corners are very far from complete.

Since Wetwang is now complete, at least at the first pass, so I thought I might let Paul Hudson know. He is the local BBC weather forecaster and honorary mayor of Wetwang. He'll just make some wise crack!

Tuesday 12 February 2008

Cottingham

Cottingham has taken some mapping but it is done to the level of all roads and major amenities. There are loads of shops to map individually. We added the road that heads towards the Orchard Park Estate in Hull. It borders a scrubby wood that is marked as the Woodland Trust which seems a bit out of place on the edge of a tower block housing estate with a reputation for crime and even violence. I'm not sure I'd venture into the wood alone, but maybe a bit of woodland is just what the area and people really need.

OPE will take a bit of mapping!

Sunday 3 February 2008

The biggest village

We had a meander round the west end of Cottingham today. People claim that it is the biggest village in England - it certainly felt that way. We checked out some of the small residential roads off St. Margaret's Avenue and Green Lane before heading into the older estate off the Parkway.

One thing that stood out is that there are lots of little footpaths from one street to another all generally heading towards the village centre where the shops are, all with the daft no cycling sign that looks as though it means cycles only. Other signs forbidding things have a bar through them.

I think we have done about 30% of Cottingham in total, not all today, so still plenty more to do, and since it is close to home I think we should finish it fairly soon.