Category Archives: Preston

Wednesday Writings – Hessle Road

Posted on May 16, 2012 by | 1 Comment

HESSLE ROAD by David Osgerby

He had two tattoos. An anchor. And I love Mum.
He was from Hessle Road. And of that he was proud.
She was not well-educated, but she wasn’t dumb.
She wore rollers in her hair, and My God she was loud.
Hessle Road. And proud of it. as were most.
And the kids played red rover in the road.
For this was a community that didn’t boast.
Trawlermen. Bobbers. They had a code.
The Boulevard rang with their passionate voices.
On Saturday nights they let their hair down.
On Hessle Road, few were the choices,
but it was the beating heart of the town.
And the kids played red rover in the road.
The pubs? They were many, and always full.
The smell of fish hung in the air.
This was not a place you could ever call dull.
Wear a Rovers scarf? You wouldn’t dare.
Then the tide turned, and the trawlers were gone.
The heart of the place was just ripped out.
But Hessle Road? Well, it just carried on.
And always will. Let there be no doubt.
And the kids played red rover in the road.

David Osgerby
Copyright 2012

David says: “Hi there. One for Janice. A commission even!”

—————————————–

 Why not have a go at writing a short-story or poem? If you want to submit something for Wednesday Writings then e-mail it to hedonblog@gmx.com – and please put WEDNESDAY WRITINGS in the subject line.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Preston, Wednesday Writings

Tagged , ,

Wednesday Writings – Happy I Was

Posted on May 9, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Happy I Was – by David Osgerby

Happy I was when I did not know what I desired.
Happier still, when I found out what my desire was.
Happiest of all men will I surely be,
When the one that I desire, desires me.

Copyright 2012 David A Osgerby

Another short but very sweet bit of prose from David. Catch all of David’s and our other Writer’s work at…

Visit: Wednesday Writings

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Preston, Wednesday Writings

Tagged ,

Wednesday Writings – The Man in the Iron Lung

Posted on May 2, 2012 by | 1 Comment

The Man in the Iron Lung by David Osgerby

The man in the iron lung lived on Holderness Road.
I never knew his name. The iron lung was his abode.
He viewed the world via a mirror above his head.
Incapable of movement, he lay chained to his bed.
I often thought about his dreams. Did he walk free
Of encumbrance as he dreamed? And did he see
life always reversed? Did he hear the mechanical
wheezing it produced? Did he resent the manacle
Of his attachment? Perhaps the noise went unheard,
and silence was the one sound that he dared
not hear.I saw him often,gazing down
from the top deck as I passed,coming back from town.
The man in the iron lung died long ago,but all the same,
I remember him. I never knew his name.

Copyright © David Osgerby 2012.

—————————————————————

We continue to be inspired by David, a Preston ex-pat living in London. In The Man in the Iron Lung he has given us a delightful example of a rhyming poem.

If you want to submit some creative writing this column, then e-mail it to hedonblog@gmx.com – and please put WEDNESDAY WRITINGS in the subject line. Read all the work from our writers at…

Visit: Wednesday Writings

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Preston, Wednesday Writings

Tagged , ,

Community Fund – Yorkshire Water Waste Water Treatment Works

Posted on May 1, 2012 by | Leave a comment

GRANTS from £100 – £5,000 will be made available for community projects under Yorkshire Water’s proposed new Community Fund being established to benefit Hedon, Preston, Paull and the Marfleet area of East Hull.

The first meeting to discuss the new Community Fund and establish the decision-making Committee took place last night at the Saltend Waste Water Treatment Works. While the fine details of the criteria are still being considered, the outline of the new funding stream has been agreed:

  • £50,000 will be dispensed in grants over two years – £25,000 per year (running from April – March each year).
  • Minimum grant £100 – Maximum grant £5,000.
  • Organisations will be encouraged to apply for projects that can demonstrate that they benefit people living in the following post code areas – HU9 5, HU9 4, HU12 8, HU12 9, HU11 4.
  • Grants will not be given for salaries or ongoing running costs of a project.
  • Parish and Town Councils will be excluded from applying.
  • Projects must be able to demonstrate some long-lasting benefit to communities i.e. applications for one-off events would not be supported.
  • For those groups asking for larger grants, then preference will be given to projects that also bring in additional funding from other sources. 
  • Funding ’rounds’ will be established with clear deadlines for when applications should be submitted. Each round will be 6-weeks long during which groups will be invited to make applications.

The meeting facilitated by the Yorkshire Water Community Engagement Team, was attended by Councillors from East Riding Council (South West Holderness Ward), Hedon Town Council, Preston Parish Council and Paull Parish Council. Councillors from the Hull City Council (Marfleet Ward) had been invited but did not attend. These Councillors will form the main membership of the decision-making Committee. East Riding Councillor Mike Bryan was elected its Chair. 

The Committee will meet again on the 28th May to consider the details of the criteria which will determine how applications are assessed and the guidance that will be given to those applying for funding.

The first round of the new Community Fund is not likely to be open for applications until June 2012. However, groups that already have an idea for a project can send a brief outline as an expression an interest, to Dafydd Williams from Yorkshire Water’s Community Engagement Team at e-mail: dafydd.williams@yorkshirewater.co.uk and further information and application packs can be sent out when available if applicable.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Hedon, Hull, Paull, Preston, Yorkshire Water Community Fund

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Wednesday Writings – Combine Harvester

Posted on April 25, 2012 by | Leave a comment

COMBINE HARVESTER by David Osgerby

The field mouse is an endangered species.
it lives in fields, and is especially fond
of fields of wheat, barley and rye.
Each harvest heralds field mouse Armageddon,
as a vast machine of obscenely disproportionate size
scythes through these minute creatures,
reducing them to mere bloodstains on corn.
Where else is something so large
used to kill something so, so small?

—————————————————————

David, a Preston ex-pat living in London, writes:
HELLO ALL, here’s a new one from David Osgerby, still doing missionary work down south for the mushy pea appreciation society. Cheers from London.

Inspired!? If you want to submit something for Wednesday Writings then e-mail it to hedonblog@gmx.com – and please put WEDNESDAY WRITINGS in the subject line

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Preston, UK/International, Wednesday Writings

Tagged , ,

Yorkshire Water announces £50,000 Community Fund

Posted on April 18, 2012 by | 1 Comment

YORKSHIRE WATER have today announced that a £50,000 Community Fund will be put in place to compensate for the problem odours that have impacted on residents during the last few years from the Waste Water Treatment Works at Saltend.

Richard Sears, Community Engagement Manager for Yorkshire Water, said: “We know that for some years the local community put up with intermittent odours from the site and we recognise that this was clearly unacceptable. Since last summer, we’ve done a huge amount of work to reduce odours at the site, including installing a state-of-the-art odour control unit which we believe will significantly help to reduce any excessive odours from the site.

“We want to be a good neighbour and this trust fund underlines our commitment to working alongside the local community and doing what we can to give something back through this £50,000 cash fund.”

A local panel is being set up which will have the final say on projects and causes that will benefit from the Community Fund. It is understood that local councillors from South West Holderness and East Hull will make up the majority of the 10-strong panel who will be meeting on the 30th April to determine ground-rules for how the fund will be operated and criteria for bidding for a share of the cash.

For the complete press release from Yorkshire Water see the article Community Fund to say ‘Sorry’ on HU12 Online.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Hedon, Holderness, Hull, Paull, Preston, Yorkshire Water Smells

Tagged , , , ,

Wednesday Writings – STUBBLE

Posted on April 11, 2012 by | 1 Comment

STUBBLE by David Osgerby

The harvest home, only stubble now remains.
The wheat is in, and farmers give thanks for clement weather.
The last harvester has inched its way
down narrow country lanes,
as the landscape holds its breath,
and waits for tractors towing
serried ranks of patient seagulls.
Soon, soon, this will come.
But for now, the land is free of clutter,
and I can see the contours of the land.
The face of nature has been shaved,
and only stubble now remains.

© David Osgerby 2012.

David writes: ”Hello from London. I was born in Preston, but have been living in London for over 35 years. I work for London Underground, and have been writing and performing poetry for a couple of years now. I often find myself writing about Holderness, which will always be home to me.”

Inspired!? If you want to submit something for Wednesday Writings then e-mail it to hedonblog@gmx.com – and please put WEDNESDAY WRITINGS in the subject line (we get lots of e-mails everyday and this makes it easier to spot).

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Preston, UK/International, Wednesday Writings

Tagged ,

Community Fund to compensate for Yorkshire Water smells?

Posted on January 26, 2012 by | 6 Comments

YORKSHIRE WATER has hinted at plans to establish a ‘Community Fund’ as a way of compensating local residents for problems caused by the smells from the Waste Water Treatment Works at Saltend.

In the Hull Daily Mail yesterday Yorkshire Water’s Matt Thompson was quoted as saying:

Matt Thompson - Water in-water out

Matt Thompson

“We are keenly aware that we have had to rely on the patience and understanding of local residents for a number of years on this matter. We have therefore agreed, as a gesture of goodwill to the local community, to create a community fund to help support local projects that benefit the Hedon and Preston neighbourhood. We hope it will be administered by a community liaison panel made up of councillors and local community groups.”

The idea of a ‘Community Chest’ was first mooted by Councillor John Dennis last year. On the 5th August 2011, he and fellow ward Councillor Mike Bryan met with Yorkshire Water about the offensive smells (Councillor Ann Suggit was away at the time). Councillor Dennis commented about the meeting on the Hedon Blog:

“As arranged at that first meeting, I will be holding discussions with YW’s head of communications in the expectation of securing some form of compensation package for the local community. It would surely not be unreasonable for us to expect them to come up with a positive, tangible gesture to show how sorry they really are!”

And yesterday he commented on the latest news: “I had suggested some form of Community Chest into which local communities might be able to dip for valid local projects. Parishes have always got something they would like financial help with – village hall improvements and re-builds etc. Hedon is having lots of problems with the Horsewell Pond which no longer holds water. They are the sort of project I would envisage being able to qualify for consideration, however we’ll have to wait and see what’s on the table. I look forward with great interest to hear how it will work, and how much it will actually contain. I hope there are plenty of noughts in the figure!”

The idea of a Community Fund would seem to be a good idea. Local community and environmental projects could obviously benefit from such a fund. Although some residents would have liked to have seen the compensation represented in the form of lower water bills! However, as Councillor Dennis says, it will be interesting to see how many noughts there are in the figure! Enough noughts, and perhaps the ‘pot’ could be used to attract further funding!

The idea of a Community Liaison Panel to administer the fund with community group representation is also a positive suggestion. In fact something like this might be an opportunity to bring local community groups together to make project suggestions and nominate panel members.

The Yorkshire Water smells brought communities together in anger. Perhaps a Community Fund can bring them together to make things better!?

→ 6 Comments

Posted in Hedon, Paull, Preston, Yorkshire Water Smells

Tagged , , , ,