Edging along

We've been working our way through Hull, and there's still quite a lot to do. I thought it might be a good idea to trace the outer edge of what remains, so we set off in the rain to check it out. We saw more new developments, though mostly small with a few unsold houses.

We followed the roads that are furthest east, some were the outer edge of the city like Noddle Hill Way but others were little residential roads. It was a bit of a different way to operate and I enjoyed it, but especially the result. We really now have the complete outside edge of the whole city on the map. It shows that the eastern boundary of the city is quite a long way from the edge of the houses. We just have to fill in the gaps towards the centre now ...

Road to nowhere

We combined a shopping trip with a bit of mapping around the Kingswood area of north Hull. The estates around the Kingswood shopping area are still being built. I think it could take a long time to finish because lots of houses are standing complete but unsold. Still others are started as foundations and then covered. Yet more roads are laid out, with roundabouts and street lights in fields.

I couldn't get to all of the roads, some of the small roads are not yet complete. Some of the bigger routes that lead into these fields were blocked with a gate or drums. I think the fields will remain green for a couple of years yet as the building boom has drawn to an abrupt halt. There are a couple of developments that we have thought that we need to revisit when they are complete, but that might be a long time yet. Still, if new developments are at a standstill it's easier to keep the map up-to-date.

Estates, bleak or not

We've been out a few times in the last week or so and the map of Hull is slowly improving. Greatfield is now complete, another chunk of Stoneferry is mapped and now a piece of Bransholme is on the map.

Greatfield was straightforward and went well. At the end of a road there was a large space for buses to turn round. I still haven't added it to the map - I'm not sure how. Greatfield is not the smartest part of city but there is a feeling of pride in some parts.

The part of Stoneferry we completed borders East Park, which we have not added yet. Westcott street was a bit of a pain, with many very short stubs sticking out at both sides, but they're on the map so we don't have to return there now.

Today we ventured to Bransholme again in the rain. We completed the roads of the northern part of the estate, but there are loads of footpaths that could be added, the whole estate is a maze of paths. There were more derelict houses on show. I read today that there is a shortage of social housing in Yorkshire, what I saw was that a large estate has a lot of empty houses. I don't suggest that people are housed there, just that the architect who replaces it understands that people want to live in communities not estates. There is a lot of large, empty grass spaces that look tidy enough, but the word that springs to my mind is bleak.

Greatfield and Rooks

The empty part of Hull is slowly shrinking. Yesterday we had a longish session in Greatfield. It is an estate on the eastern-most part of Hull. It takes us a while to get there, especially on a Friday afternoon. I don't really get it, but for years now the roads in Hull on Friday afternoons have been clogged. One of the roads ends at the edge of the Eastern Cemetery, which is pretty big. We need to take a wander around it to get its full extent and mark the roads and chapel in it. We might be able to see Greatfield off with one more visit. It borders Preston Road which has a grim reputation in the city.

Today we had a change and set off out into East Yorkshire. The East of the county is a large, flat plain - made, incidently, from boulder clay deposited when the glaciers retreated last time [1]. It is known as Holderness. We took in some of the villages and country roads that mark the northern (ill-defined) border of Holderness with the gently rolling hills of the Yorkshire Wolds. We completed about seven small villages and hamlets.

The weather has been cool and wet so the grain harvest has been delayed, but today we saw lots of evidence of fields in various stages of harvest, including some ploughed, with a flock of rooks foraging for food. Actually I think it's a parliament of rooks ...


[1] Some people would say at the end of the last ice-age, but technically we are in an inter-glacial period of the current ice age. Climate change may change things, but we are in an unusually cold period of our planet's history - very rarely have there been icecaps at the poles, and sea levels are low because of all of the water tied up in ice especially in Antarctica.

Village and dereliction

We are slowly filling gaps in the East Riding. Wawne is a small village which is close to the outskirts of Hull. The river Hull separates it from the village of Thearne. On one side there is Ferry Lane and on the other Ferry Road, but no sign of the ferry.

We then crossed back into Hull and bit a small chunk out of the Bransholme estate. This was once Europe's largest housing estate. Some of it has been redeveloped even though much of it is only forty years old or less. I was surprised just how derelict many of the blocks of houses are. We got lots of pictures, but I've just included one

It will take a big effort to plough through the estate so I'll have a go and take breaks else where.

Bypassed

A warm, muggy afternoon and we headed towards Tickton. It's a bit of a back-water now. The A1035 was diverted past the village some time ago. It's a small place and close to the town of Beverley - too close to have many amenities of its own, but far enough away to be a nuisance. The village is not growing, indeed it may be running down: the Methodist church has been boarded up.

We then went on about six miles to Leven. Here too the village has been bypassed, but it's a much different place. There is a lot of new housing, even spreading out into farmland. There are shops and other facilities and the place seems to be thriving. I suspect that being a bit further from a town has helped to maintain the facilities.

We crossed the Leven canal so when we got home I traced the canal from the low-res Yahoo aeriel view. There's a path along the towpath, so someone might walk or bike it to get a better track and get the position of the locks that must manage the join to the river Hull.

I created a proposal for amenity=veterinary, mostly because the Vet's practice in our village needed a tag. The votes are all positive and the voting time is up, so later today I'll go through the approved-tag process. It is good to add a simple, useful tag.

More interest

I met Gary and Kirsty today. They collected a 19 inch monitor that I offered on Freecycle. I sent them a link to the OSM map so they could find our house and they liked the site. They live in a part of Hull called Longhill, which we haven't yet added to the map and they seem interested to have a go. I hope they do.