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.

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