The River in Colour by Bernard Sharp – Part 2

1978 – 1989

All of the images and accompanying text are copyright Bernard Sharp and used with permission and under licence (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0). All of the photographs are numbered with the corresponding text by Bernard to accompany each photograph below the gallery.

1. Old Harbour, River Hull, Kingston upon Hull. June 1978. A busy harbour, looking towards the sand and gravel works on the east bank, Tower Street, viewed from Church Lane StaitheA busy harbour, looking towards the sand and gravel works on the east bank, Tower Street, viewed from Church Lane Staithe.
2. Old Harbour, River Hull, Kingston upon Hull. Sunday, 1 August, 1982. Activity on the river Hull, as seen from Charlotte Street, looking towards, inter alia, the entrance to the dry dock, Great Union Street.
3. Tower Street, Kingston upon Hull. Tuesday, 26 February, 1985. The processing plant of Northern Aggregates Ltd. alongside the Old Harbour, where aggregates were discharged from dredgers. The site was subsequently cleared and remains undeveloped in 2013.
4. Old Harbour, River Hull, Kingston upon Hull. Sunday, 6 June, 1982. Barges moored in the Old Harbour south of Drypool Bridge, with Myton Bridge and the Tidal Surge Barrier in the background.
5. Dock Office Row, Kingston upon Hull. Sunday, 7 November, 1982. The dry dock, now disused, between the former Dock Offices and No.1 High Street, adjacent to the river Hull.
6. Old Harbour, River Hull, Kingston upon Hull. Sunday, 19 June, 1983. Camilla, pilot boat operated by Humber Pilotage Cutter Co. Ltd.
7. Old Harbour, River Hull, Kingston upon Hull. Sunday, 13 May, 1984. Standing high behind the shipping on the river is the mill of R & W Paul Limited, Wincolmlee. The traffic signals at the approach to the redundant Scott Street Bridge can be seen at the extreme right.
8. High Street, Kingston upon Hull. Saturday, 25 June, 1983. These former warehouses, at the rear of High Street and abutting the Old Harbour, have subsequently been converted for residential accommodation.No.38B (left), Ellerman’s Building, was rebuilt circa 1800 on the site of a previous warehouse, whose datestone ‘G G M 1655’ was retained and is set into the wall below the first floor window. Access from Bishop Lane Staithe. Grade II Listed Building. Nos.37 & 37A (right) were built 1829 and are two of four former warehouses collectively known as Pacific Court. They are linked by walkways on the three upper floors. Grade II Listed Building.
9. High Street, Kingston upon Hull. Saturday, 25 June, 1983. Left to right, Nos.71 to 57 High Street, abutting the Old Harbour. All these buildings have subsequently been demolished. The site north of Church Lane Staithe is now Trinity Wharf, a housing development; the land to the south thereof remains undeveloped.
10. Old Harbour, River Hull, Kingston upon Hull. Saturday, 25 June, 1983. The ‘Middle Whitton’ lightship was built 1907, decommissioned 1986. The vessel served on the Humber estuary between Whitton Ness and Ellerker. Britain’s last manned lightship; subsequently converted to a private live-aboard sailing vessel.
11. High Street, Kingston upon Hull. Saturday, 25 June, 1983. Mid-17th century warehouse to the rear of No.52 High Street and abutting the Old Harbour. A Grade II Listed Building, it was subsequently demolished following a fire. Trinity Wharf, a housing development, has been constructed on the cleared site and the land immediately to the south.
12. Old Harbour, River Hull, Kingston upon Hull. Sunday, 7 August, 1983. The tanker ‘Daystream’ was built 1965 by Bayerische Shipbuilding, Erlenbach, Germany. It was originally registered as ‘Axel’, until 1970, becoming ‘Whitonia’, until 1982. Here it is moored just north of Drypool Bridge on the east bank of the Harbour.
13. Old Harbour, River Hull, Kingston upon Hull. Sunday, 7 August, 1983. The M.V. Bowprince, launched 1964, was built by Ailsa Shipbuilding Company for British Dredging Aggregates Ltd. A sand suction dredger, it is seen here discharging its load at the wharf of Northern Aggregates Ltd., Tower Street, on the east bank of the Old Harbour.
14. Old Harbour, River Hull, Kingston upon Hull. Sunday, 3 October, 1982. he tug ‘Gillian Knight’, moored immediately south of Drypool Bridge, was built 1963 by Drypool Shipbuilding & Engineering for Gilyott & Scott. The tug remains in service in 2013, albeit in different colours and with a new owner.
15. River Hull, Kingston upon Hull. Sunday, 1 August, 1982. The ‘Sea Husky’ is moored on the west bank of the river, south of the redundant Scott Street Bridge.
16. Wincolmlee, Kingston upon Hull. Sunday, 1 August, 1982. Warehouse adjacent to the now redundant Scott Street Bridge.
17. Old Harbour, River Hull, Kingston upon Hull. Thursday, 17 August, 1989. Barges moored immediately north of Drypool Bridge, with North Bridge further upstream.
18. Old Harbour, River Hull, Kingston upon Hull. Sunday, 8 July, 1984. Traffic on the river as seen from the viewing platform of the tidal surge barrier.
19. Central Dry Dock, Humber Street, Kingston upon Hull. Sunday, 8 July, 1984. Seen from the viewing platform of the Tidal Surge Barrier on the river Hull, is United Towing’s ‘Salvageman’, undergoing maintenance in the graving dock. Built in 1980 in Hong Kong, it was then the UK’s biggest salvage tug, undertaking service in the Falklands War in 1982. The ‘South End Graving Dock’ was in existence by 1784. The present dock was rebuilt in 1843-44, becoming a Grade II Listed Building in 1998.
20. Old Harbour, River Hull, Kingston upon Hull. Friday, 3 July, 1987. Next to Drypool Bridge are the Shotwell and Clarence Flour Mills, with two barges of Gilyott & Scott in the foreground.
21. River Hull, Kingston upon Hull. Sunday, 1 August, 1982. The barge ‘Steetley’ plies its trade on the river, north of Scott Street Bridge and adjacent to the lock connecting with the Beverley & Barmston Drain.
22. River Hull, Kingston upon Hull. Sunday, 21 July, 1985. The ‘Sea Husky’ is moored on the west bank of the river, south of the redundant Scott Street Bridge.
23. Sammy’s Point, Kingston upon Hull. 1983. Sammy’s Point, at the confluence of the river Hull and the Humber estuary, was so-named after Martin Samuelson, who formerly had a shipbuilding works here. In the background (left) are sheds on the derelict Victoria Dock and (right), cranes on Alexandra Dock. Sammy’s Point is today (2012) home to The Deep aquarium and business park.
24. Old Harbour, River Hull, Kingston upon Hull. Sunday, 10 July, 1983. The tanker ‘Humber Dawn’ (originally ‘Druid Stone’) was built 1967 by Bolson & Son, Poole. Here it is moored at the wharf of Clarence Flour Mills, immediately south of Drypool Bridge.

Thanks very much to Bernard for the permission to use both the images and text – all copyright Bernard Sharp and published under licence.

Rich and Lou Duffy-Howard