Great exhibition at Park Hill flats at the moment in Sheffield - Love Among the Ruins. Some brilliant photos from 1961 and 1988 - the black and white and colour contrasts are poignant too. And also incredible film footage from the early 60s when the bustling shopping area in the flats was in full swing and a vibrant community thrived.
So on Saturday we'd booked onto a walking architecture tour of the undeveloped parts of the now derelict site. Being fenced off and unmaintained, the weeds have flourished since my last visit. Andrew Jackson from the Twentieth Century Society led the walk.
Here's one of the 4 pubs on the site - we were inside this a couple of years ago to see a great video installation as part of the Art Sheffield 2016 festival - Up Down Top Bottom Strange and Charm
some of the original mosaics and signs remain
This dry hot summer has given the landscape a kind of pampas grass feel as we look over to the developed Urban Splash section.
More of the colourful mosaics that have stood the test of time
Recent fire damage to one of the blocks
New home of the lovely S1Artspace in the old Park Hill garages - and the flat roof was originally a play area. S1Artspace rescued this from demolition by moving in this summer.
And for the final bit of the tour we headed into the new Urban Splash part of the development - where some of the original staircases have been kept in.
but the "milk float" corridors have been narrowed a bit to provide more private entrances to the flats. Loved the personalised glass corner displays at each flat.
Unsurpassed views across our wonderful city of Sheffield
Good appreciation of the original concept of the graduation in brick colours from red at the bottom to pale yellow at the top. These were replaced with bright panels in the first phase of development but will be retained in the future work.
And a feel for the great open public space behind the flats. Which could easily have ended up housing a multi story car park if developers had got their way.
A great day - and ended with a relaxing coffee at the lovely South Street Kitchen which opened earlier this year.
After a much needed coffee boost, we meet one of the Larkin Toads inside the library
And here we are at last, actually inside what was once Philip Larkin's office, as Chief Librarian of the Brynmor Jones Library at the University of Hull
A highlight was leafing through book after book of copies of his poems and revisions
Finally we reach the exhibition which is really well curated and quite fascinating. There's a great Guardian review here and one of the many highlights was a series of Super-8 films taken by the library staff themselves larking about (with Larkin)! in short vignettes.
Another interesting article here questioning Larkin's relationship with Hull over the years. But it was now time to move on and into Hull proper. A stunning coffee at Caffeinated - in the lovely renovated Trinity Market - right opposite Holy Trinity Church, recently rebranded as Hull Minster
and more incredible literary associations as we learn that Andrew Marvell was born in Hull and his statue is right outside the old Grammar School he attended. And here he is with one of his biggest fans!
and soon we are off for a walk down the lane for supper at the White Horse Farm Inn which has changed hugely since Mike and I camped nearby in the 70s, but was still friendly and served good beer. Thursday morning dawns brightly and after a stunning breakfast . . .
. . . we are given a great hiking route from Ian, the owner at Sevenford. Starting at the phone box in Rosedale East we venture up onto the old iron ore workings railway line
meeting noisy friends en route
and discovering the magnificent old lime kilns dotted around these hillsides
and again a song springs into my head, the wonderful bleak but beautifully haunting Dalesman's Litany sung by Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. I've always loved the bit about Sheffield's furnaces ..
and here are two ex-steelworkers enjoying the fresh air
High up on the hillside away from it all, with the most fabulous homemade sandwiches, soups and lemon drizzle cake!
but all too soon we were off back to find the car
and hurtle to York (what a magnificent station!) for fond farewells onto the London train
But the quest didn't end here. The two final muskateers continued on the Andrew Marvell trail to look for Nun Appleton Hall and Bickling Hall, where Marvell was a tutor Fairfax's daughter Mary from 1650-52 and where, during this period, he lived and wrote poems such as Upon Appleton House. An extract from the poem is shown on this Poetry Foundation webpage if you care to read. However, this old gate was as far as we could get as there were many private property signs and the present Hall lies close to the River Wharfe. There's a very thorough article on the estate with a great map which might have helped us more on the day had I found it then - you can read more at Historic England, Nun Appleton Hall. We also used this useful piece from the Andrew Marvell Society to locate Bilbrough, where Marvell wrote "Upon the Hill and Grove at Bilbrough", and found the present Hall and the church, with the Fairfax family graves.
So all in all a wonderful whistlestop two days - here's to the next adventure!
