The Ghost of Oil Drum Lane

A rare treat in the built environment of Kingston upon Hull, UK, today. Tucked away through a vehicular archway under and between Victorian terraced houses is this wonderful old workshop, coach house and courtyard.

It is in a bit of a sorry state in spite of having been re-roofed recently which has helped to keep out the worst excesses of our weather. The resident bats like it that way, dry but draughty. The external walls are cracked and settled, woodwork flaking and glazing missing but not beyond sympathetic salvage and on-going economic use.

The style is of an artisan type that will have graced many city streets and townscapes in the halcyon days of master builders, skilled trades and crafts with the proprietor living in the frontage house and his tools, horse and cart living safely on the premises behind. There are still signs of relatively recent use with stored salvaged slates, paint pots and a hard hat. The 1892 Bulmers Directory of Hull Trades shows the address as being occupied for the purposes of a Milk Dealer for which the premises would have been ideally suited.

The ground floor in the two storey building is open plan save for the wide open tread staircase and timber shelves and racks.I climbed the stairs hesitantly as they looked well peppered with woodworm.

The old boards were in places rotted through and collapsed so I stayed at the top of the stairs rather than risk injury. The far corner retained a brick built hearth of industrial size although with serious subsidence of its supporting plinth.

        On the back wall still hang joiners' woodworking tools but heavily corroded and tarnished.

These surviving features are remarkable in terms of heritage but even more so given their perishable nature are the faded but still legible printed posters of Factory Act Regulations which adorn the walls.

These bear dates of the legislation for workplaces from as early as 1901 including "Machinery Regulations",

 "Workmen's Compensation Acts 1906 and 1923", "Hours of Work (apart from overtime), Holidays for Women and Young Persons (Factories Act 1937) and an "Exemption from annual limewashing of ceilings and walls" under the Factory and Workshop Acts 1901 to 1920.

One of the earliest pasted up sheets appears to be in exceptional condition largely due to a diligent Employer or Foreman nailing over it a display poster from the Regulations applying to working practices in 1974.

So what is the fate of this amazing example of urban trade and commerce?

There is planning already passed for conversion to a residential unit which, with some irony, will accommodate as many under its roof as it must have employed at any one time during its most productive years.

             Perhaps I will be one of the last to see the building in it's original layout and condition .

                                                     I consider it a privilege.