Wheatears, Easington Gas Terminal

While watching the black redstart, this pair of wheatears flew in off the sea, bathed and then gave us this fabulous showing. Love wheatears, they are such smart looking birds.

Black Redstart, Easington Gas Terminal

One of those 'glad we came to Spurn' days. We started off at Easington Gas Terminal, very muddy underfoot, but this cracking black redstart soon took our mind off the mud. A pair of wheatears flew in, bathed and also gave us a good showing on the rocks. Blooming fabulous ......  and to top off the morning, the sun shone !

White-spotted Bluethroat, East Halton, Lincs

An excellent find by Steve Routledge along the bank at East Halton. To say the bird was elusive and mobile was an understatement. We were there for at least 3 hours and if we saw the bird for 10 seconds we were lucky. A brilliant find for Steve's patchwork challenge.....points make prizes !

Simon called out our first swallow of the year which was a brucey bonus !

The National Picture Theatre, Beverley Road, Hull

This is the National Picture Theatre on Beverley Road, Hull, built in 1914.  It is the last remaining civilian bomb ruin still in existence. It was hit in a raid on the nearby docks in March 1941 and has remained derelict ever since. It is now Grade II listed in memory of all the civilians killed in the blitz.

The air raid took place on the night of March 17th/18th 1941. The film showing at the time was Charlie Chaplin's 'The Great Dictator'. Thankfully all 150 people escaped and there were no casualties. The interior of the building was completely destroyed but the facade still survives to this day, including fragments of the foyer and vestibule behind it.

There is now a campaign to have the remains of the cinema and the Swan Inn next door, saved as part of a National Civilian WW2 Home Front tribute to all those who endured the blitz in 1939 to 1945 in Britain.

Banksy - 'Draw the Raised Bridge', Scott Street Bridge, Hull

The Original 'Draw the Raised Bridge', Banksy 25th January 2018 on Scott Street Bridge, Hull. This also appeared in the Instagram account of Banksy which confirms it is his work. 

After just a couple of days it had been vandalised by a local moron who covered the artwork in whitewash paint, totally covering it. We all have words for idiots like this that seem to think they have a right to ruin everything. A piece of artwork that is worth thousands of pounds in itself without adding the financial input from tourists coming to see it. A local window cleaner saved it, cleaning it with white spirit and, although it is now faded, at least it is still there and you can see it. Hull City Council took the blunt of the blame for not protecting it in any way, infact one Tory councillor called for it to be removed immediately claiming it wasn't art !  Words do sometimes fail you.   

Anyway, after two months we have finally got round to seeing the Banksy which is now covered in a perspex sheet. This plastic, although protecting the artwork, makes viewing it almost impossible. There is the glare to contend with and then the condensation behind the plastic. Still, we are grateful that it has been saved.  While we were there on Easter Sunday, a good 50 people came and went, all enjoying the Banksy and proud that it was in the City of Hull, and in the most run down, deprived part of the city. All had directions to a further two pieces of artwork just a street away,  that are 'possible' Banksy's. 

                                                                      Scott Street Bridge, Hull 

Viewing isn't easy now with the plastic sheet and the fence but at least it keeps the local brain-dead morons from defacing it again. 

River Hull

Another piece of artwork appeared in the same area as Draw the Raised Bridge. It features a young girl sitting next to a dead bird and has appeared on the side of a mechanics workshop in Bromley Street. It resembles the famous Hull graffiti piece 'Dead Bod'. Banksy has yet to claim this piece of artwork  

This is the artwork today. Someone has tried to save the artwork by protecting it, which we are grateful for but couldn't they have made a better job?

                                            The girl with the bird can be seen on the right.  

Now, what the heck is this I hear you ask. These are words written on a wall in Cooper Street, just up the road from the bridge and the girl. Again it is covered in a perspex sheet but the condensation that has formed behind it makes it unreadable. I had to look online to know that it said "There must be more to life than writing 'there must be more to life' on the walls".  This hasn't been claimed by Banksy either.

                                           Some fabulous graffiti by the local budding Banksys !