Bankside with Grandma

Doing Bankside

Its 10 years since I saw my first Banksy . It was in Israel

and was a definite political statement, and even from the coach window was recognisable. Ten years on and Banksy is very much main stream and market worthy . Now with a celebrity status even Secondary Schools deem the artist of note and encourage pupils to discover his work and appreciate it . One such is my grandson Reuben . When I told him about the Banksy on Scott Street Bridge, Kingston upon Hull, he asked if I would take him to see it. 

We had a great day out from Filey , taking the train to Paragon is always good for boys who travel to school in a coach, and everywhere else by car . They however are both walkers ,every weekend they go for miles with their parents on the beach at Cayton, Scarborough and Hunmanby Gap , BELOVED  only slow strolls with the Sholley these days to get the paper, or collect his medication.He potters around quite happily without us, always spurred on by the prospect of Neighbours at lunchtime so we left him to hold the Filey Fort.

WE walked straight to the Banksy on Scott Street Bridge. Its not much of a sight now that its been vandalised, preserved and covered with perspex, as its lost its integrity . THE one in the war torn West Bank has more about it . I won't go on here about the lack of care of the Brits for the man made environment when the gift of a Banksy arrives. Its just as easy to say that any graf is destructive. 

The Bankside Gallery has to be understood . Artists are provided with designated Permission Walls, which like everything may be abused, as in the Preston Road site, now probably gentrified up as another Gallery Site. I cant see any reason not to paint on derelict houses. HCC waits for years before seeing the housing needs, and finding money to renovate existing stock, the graf is a useful wake up call to a Labour Council .(IMO)

Reuben took lots of photos, he's good at that, .Zak hung around patiently asking intelligent questions. I Walked them to the great walls in Air Street , dodging huge lorries trying to park on the corner near the small graveyard. This all added to the urban feel, as Bankside is not a cosy Gallery with seats and the smell of freshly ground coffee around very corner. It is edgy and a small part of the day to day industry that is going on around it. Men in high vis jackets hang out the front of engineering plants and car yards enjoying a fag and a break . We saw no one else walking around looking at the paintings. WE  were the odd ones out . The spray canned ones fitted in mostly well, because we expect to see them in all cities, and railway sides, but we never expected them to be SO GOOD, SO CLEVER,SO DIFFERENT or SO INDIVIDUAL.The boys had their favourites obviously, MANUKO was a tag to look for, and this one was great!

Air Street I think 

Time for a drink , this grandma knows teenage boys have hollow legs, and their mother will be furious if I let them have fizzy drinks, so we had a very sober milk and sausage roll in the Kingston cafe. Its loo I must say , across a yard with a key was better than the Station Hotel, and a thousand times better than the station ones .

So we crossed Chapman street bridge and got the 10  bus to Queens Gardens.

The next part of the Art walk was for me a denouement . The pseudo Banksys are just that, PSUEDO. Boys liked them though , especially the Mary Poppins with the Lidl bag, which Zak spotted immediately . 

Time for a late lunch in the Omelette, still better than all the fancy new  places opening up , and home on the train  to the land that time forget , Geriatrica on Sea OKA Filey.

Saltaire next I think !

NB Ray . WE had the boys for the day as the parents were back at work and they did not go back to school until the next day . This was done on 7th Jan , Ive only just written it up. 

#Hull City of Culture 2017 (two) Yes, I was made in Hull !

I am poised, Credit Card ready,  Family pre-warned , Family agreed, Family poised for when at 8.30 am on ticket release day  I shall let Hull Know that we want tickets for the Firework Display on January 1st which kick starts the #Hull City of Culture 2017 big time.

In fact this City of K U Hull Girl has planned a 3day City visit for the family , the London Born, the Scarborough Born, the Oldham Born and the Kingston Upon Hull born . My sisters and I are really going to say ,

COME BACK TO OURS !

Ive been blogging about Hull since my first tentative post in 2006, when I was working using Dial- up and had not even got a Digital Camera let alone a smartphone. 

I'd only been able to use the internet since when  in 1997 each classroom in school was given a Computer .  I even remember the Head coming to me one morning and saying he'd just discovered a wonderful search engine called Google! We used Yahoo before that . 

I was  started on my journey to computer literacy  in Hull too. I've just found my certificate certifying that I'd followed a programme of study in Introduction to Information Technology  at Humberside University campus in June 1997 . 

So nearly 20 years later I find myself with a houseful of devices , Plusnet, 2Macs, 2 PCs, an old netbook, a Raspberry Pi and a second career as PA to Computer illiterate family members.who receive e messages on my email account.  The Grandchildren, however, who have been using my devices since they  could reach the keyboard for Jeux Poisson Rouge are now disappearing upstairs to the office and returning with imovies they've done on the Minimac. I find compositions on Garage Band in my Files and they've moved on from Minecraft to Utube and they are leaving me behind with their expertise . Each time  I open my MacAir  a new login dialogue box will be there under mine to allow  MinorMayhem  or Rooreviewer to log in . 

My G grandfather would have seen these

The #Hull City of Culture is the first time for me then that a whole year event  is being organized using the best of  the  technology of DIGITAL AGE . I applaud you ! Yes it was great that even here in the outpost that is Filey ,(once in the East Riding) , Look North , from Leeds  was featuring #Hull2017 on 22nd September, all the forth estate seemed to be shouting Hull , and my pride just swelled and swelled.  #fb and Twitter posts from the Hull Daily Mail and #Hull2017 kept appearing on Social Media . I was well informed.

So Ive bought tickets for The Hypocrite,( I'm looking now at the woodcut of Sir John Hotham on my office wall), with the delightful miniature of Hull in the corner ,heading this post .

I've opened my account ready for Firework Tickets, booked the wonderful  Premier Inn in Tower Street and am going to bed hoping that at on the release  morning the website will just let me on before I start another  busy day .

Made in Hull, I certainly was, 70 years of my HISTORY . I'm thinking of registering an interest in the Community Brand,  after all I want to do my vicarious bit  for the 47 models . 

Pomodoro and other Red Tomatoes at the seaside

I was over 6 months pregnant when I last went to Rome. I was viewed as an oddity as 44 years ago I never saw any pregnant Italian women . We were staying with Colin's Aunt and uncle who lived just off the Via Cristoforo Colombo. Aunty Kay said that it wasn't usual for Italian women to be out and about the way I was, travelling on the buses and trains and eating out every night in the local restaurants  . I was watching the very pregnant Victoria Coren on Only Connect last night . It reminded me of the near purdah of the Italian women and of the Laura Ashley tents I used to wear when I was enceinte . 
Now ,what I will always remember from La Roma 1974 beside learning to say due Birri for then we still did have the occasional uno, was the wonderful food .  Aunty Kay and Uncle Edgar took us round ruin after ruin, and spouse and I trailed round fountain after fountain ourselves, we did Villa Julia and got blessed by Il Papa on Easter Day in the square before San Pietro. BUT we ate out nearly every day at all the places where the locals and their bambini ate .
For all the years since 1974 I have grown tomatoes , grown them in all the greenhouses of my life, grown them on all the allotments of my life and in all the kitchen window sills of my life .
Except for this year.
The lovely food in all the Roman cafes , trattoria, pizzeria and restaurants , AND in all the Italian cafes , trattoria , pizzeria and restaurants in my UK food journey have all depended heavily on Tomatoes , garlic and herbs. In my much used Italian Vegetarian Cookery book I have made Spinach and Rice pies, Onion Pies, and all sorts of Frittatas , but try as I can , they are never interesting enough without some dish of tomatoes, homemade sauce , salsa, salad or just ketchup from Mr Heinz. My store cupboard groans with tins of Chopped tomatoes, Whole Plum tomatoes and tomato Puree. As hard as I try, I can never grow tomatoes as well as anyone else on the allotments. A friend is always calling by with bags of his , my allotment partner grows them well enough without even trying. Mine were a disaster last year so Ive not grown any at all this year. Two have seeded down by the Asparagus, and are doing really well all on their own .
Now we are not able to do much at the moment and I'm really ready for a break . I know you say well you have been up the Rhine this year,  spouse was not well all the time and I had to act as a Cooks Tour guide to get us to Amsterdam and from Basel on Public transport  so Im ready for just a change of scenery . I'm not grumbling ,  I'm ready for a little break after our busy August of visitors and the increasing emotional strain of visiting my aged parent whose mind is leaving her.
So yesterday we had the small boys for the day as parents were both working and we had to take them with us to Scarborough so that we could go the Building Society .
Five years ago I wrote about another day at the seaside,  This year was so much easier. Small boys still loved the ride on the 120 bus to Scarborough . They never stopped talking all the time, just as 5 years ago, such a novelty for them , to be on a bus!
Lunch was at our favourite Italian in Scarborough Pomodoro . The boys had been rehearsing their orders to Barbara since we left Filey . They did have good practice at our very own Filey Italian we call Bella a few weeks ago when their cousins were staying, but this was sans parents and lunchtime. They were hungry ,not tired after a days romping on the beach , and rather more grown up than they had been a fortnight ago, as they'd just returned from a week in Andalucia .
 I have been waiting for  a Melanzane parmigiana for 2 years.  In fact I've not eaten any Olive Oil for 2 years, but now that my system can take fat again I had been waiting for this Pomodoro Moment . I make this dish frequently , and have perfected the oil free version , but really it is nothing like the real thing when the aubergines have been fried not grilled as in my fat free version .And made by a good Italian chef it bears no resemblance to what is served in the  Italian Chain eateries . Lunch took ages , we were enjoying everything . The cafe was full of locals , tables were chatting across to tables, and everyone was happy. Nothing was left on plates, huge icecreams and meringues and dolce were eaten  by Colin and the boys , and I had my usual Double Expresso . If you are reading this at Filey Surgery my spouse assures me it was a one off and we have Diabetic Icecream in the freezer for his Sunday Birthday  .

Our day out just went on and on . We took the advice of an Artist and Gallery owner at the next table during lunch and went down a few dozen yards to Blands Cliff to see the Murals . I have lived near Scarborough for 25 years and did not realise that these wonderful Murals started in 2001 were even there . The boys loved them , of an age to appreciate , and well used to Galleries and paintings they were fascinated. I thought I was the only person to have dreamt up the idea painting of Hokusai waves with a local landmark in my Teaching days in Bridlington , when Liz Smith  and I were Island hopping to Japan with Year 6 (Flamborough Light being our Fuji), but no -Nothing new under the sun .

Kingston upon Hull is to be the next City of Culture. I hope they get lots of Artists to do murals round Whitefriargate, it could sure do with livening up . I loved the Hackney ones, and the Brighton Ones.

Blands Cliff is very steep, so we planned to go up to the top another way , and walked along past the sands to the Cliff lift , in itself a good 80p worth for small boys working out how it worked. Reuben had not finished with Culture however and said he would take us to a gallery of great paintings near a statue of Queen Victoria. We couldn't work out where he meant, we'd taken him to the Scarborough Art Gallery many times and the Rotunda but no! he said ,it was just at the top of the hill. He meant the Tracy Savage shop, whose prints on Birthday Cards are sold in Filey at the Red Box. Children accompanied only by Adults it said, but it was only to stop touching the pictures , no rudey nudies.

Home now and thinking about a simple day out with small boys on the bus with Pizza for them from a Real Italian , pictures to enjoy and discuss , and the whole day rounded off  watching Episode 11 of  our only purchase, with assurances that they were allowed. The Pick- a- sweet option in Choice News was offered and refused, they just Dr Who'ed in happy silence.

Reversal

For nearly 60 years the beginning of September always meant for me the going back to school. Now I love it because I don't have to go back to school ever again.

I don't have to spend every evening working on Smart Board programmes for my Maths Lessons, ransacking the house for that bit of material I knew would be useful one day if I could remember where I had put it or being so tired I couldn't even remember where I'd put the car .

I leave it all to the next generations. Today youngest grandchild started school.

I have all  worked hard during the Summer. I have played Yo! Ho! Ho! and walked the plank ,  found Miniclip  and Moshi Monsters and policed the Pc. I had a hairy moment last week when R managed to rotate the online display on the laptop screen by 90 degrees. It happens all the time apparently when the arrow keys are mis-hit  during juvenile gaming . I had to move R upstairs and allow him on the Mac. I had banked on 30 minutes of time to sew his PE bag.

Colin and I had a great trip on the train with both boys to Hull last week, that City on the East Coast that is my birthplace. 

Pedestrianised streets are a godsend for carers of wild small boys. The updated Streetlife Museum , an hour of tearing around and pressing all the buttons and climbing on everything that did not bear a warning notice was much enjoyed. 

I don't think Philip Larkin would have liked the way HCC allowed the statue of him in  Paragon Station to be put up. John Betjeman at St Pancras he is not. *

We all did like the free  Table Tennis tables in the Nelson Mandela  Gardens. That gave C and I  30 minutes of peace and quiet to eat our packed lunch.

My Grandfathers Tram

The boys were not really impressed with the Tram Model built under their great -great grandfathers supervision. It didn't do anything, and they couldn't open anything or climb on anything.

The Hockney's Bigger Trees near Warter just didnt work in Ferens Art Gallery. It was far to big for the space. It would have looked Good in the City Hall. I'm glad I went to see it in the RA in 2009. (looking forward to to the exhibition in the RA starting on 21st January). His Yorkshire landscapes are all painted  near here, and on my drive to Beverley  across the Wolds I see all his trees and fields and hedges.

Back to the Quiet Life then. Schools Back!

* Colin says when he was at Liverpool Station yesterday there were statues of Ken Dodd and  a middle aged woman with a hat_just  Googled it -Bessie Braddock.

#HULL CITY OF CULTURE 17 of course it will be!