The Avenues

The phrase of "brown bread and muesli" was often used as a descriptive term for the demographic of the occupants of the four streets of late Victorian houses that make up The Avenues area of Hull. 

It compounded the image of bearded men, well rounded women in floaty clothing and a host of intense and creative children, perhaps a bit old fashioned in manner and speech. 

That may have been the actual case in the late 1970's when I became first acquainted with that part of the City but now actually living in the district, well technically included in the Conservation Area I have had to revisit my previous prejudices. This is based on a regular walking up and down the streets as part of my winter fitness routine. 

On a map this is hardly a challenge as it entails a westward leg, a return in an easterly direction, westward again and then a turn against the prevailing wind to sail back home. The streets are close and parallel and bisected in a couple of places by cut through roads. The distance for a full walk is just under four miles and when determined and not overtired or overfed it is possible to do the round trip in just under an hour. 

This does involve setting a fast pace as an average of four miles per hour is quite an effort even on the perfectly flat topography of just off central Hull. The start and finish points can be varied at the eastern end so as to end up nearest home. The Avenues do have a hierarchical status based on the calibre of housing and desirability of the address but none of the residents can agree as to what it is as they obviously place their own street at the top of the table. 

Being an outsider I am able to be quite impartial on this matter and my own personal rating of Avenues would be, from lower to prime, Marlborough, Victoria, Park and Westbourne. To confuse matters my favourite order for the walk is Victoria, Park, Westbourne and Marlborough but I can feel equally satisfied with the reverse order of this. In its halcyon days the area was the place of choice for the middle classes, merchant class and older monied families whose endeavours and wealth creation had kept a good proportion of the working population of Hull in wages and shelter. 

Bourgeois and Artisan types also preferred the large two and three storey houses and even today it is possible to pick out a good number of the blue and white enamelled plaques raised by the Civic Society to celebrate even a brief occupancy by the likes of Dorothy L Sayers, Ian Carmichael, Anthony Minghella and Amy Johnson amongst other figures from local history or with some wider significance. One notable former resident was the second in command on the Titanic although I have not checked to see if he went down with the countless other victims or was seconded to lifeboat duty. I have looked to see if his house is straight and true and not listing to starboard. 

A reasonable proportion of the housing stock through the Avenues has as some time suffered from subsidence and settlement because of the poor load bearing clay subsoils and the source of the street names, the trees. My first few working years in Hull in the mid 1980's was spent on regular visits to subsiding properties, some very badly affected and with the cost of remedial underpinning being very close to actual values. Some individual properties will have been virtual write-offs in insurance terms but only salvaged because of the Conservation Area status. 

A few of the bay fronts had to be fully rebuilt and flexible expansion joints inserted between longer runs of wall to allow for seasonal and differential movement. Some houses were just too far gone in terms of distortion to be straightened up and remain out of true and both disturbing and amusing visually. 

These factors have not diminished the demand and popularity of the housing stock. The larger 5 and 6 bedroomed properties have longevity for the purposes of a wide range of generations. The even larger premises have been sub divided into flats and bedsits. The highest proportion by far just remain as traditional single family houses. On my walk it is interesting to guess the form of occupancy with clues for flats being multiple doorbells, lots of lights on and poorly maintained forecourts in contrast to the private houses of well tended grounds and a few modest shows of habitation. 

Unmade and unadopted service roads do provide potential for car access but very few residents can be bothered to use them preferring to abandon vehicles on the carriageway where there can be intense competition for a parking space. My walk often involves criss-crossing the streets to avoid cars and vans which have been thoughtlessly left to barricade the pavement. Walking at fast pace through a good residential area can cause a few curtains to twitch as the Neighbourhood Watch stirs into action. I feel sorry for the consequences faced by anyone walking similarly speedily and say, carrying a colour TV set down to the repair shop out of necessity. 

On an evening of exercise I am never alone as there is a regular flow of joggers pacing the same up and down route, large numbers of dog walkers and a few badly illuminated cyclists. 

In fact, for a supposedly quiet inner city location it can be quite a congested place.