We are very excited by the progress being made by Lost Art in Wigan. We visited their workshops at the beginning of July and took these photographs:
Stocks of our merchandise are a bit low after high demand over Christmas, but take a look at our ‘Shop’ page and contact us for availability if something appeals to you
The most exciting news for 2020 was that we have now raised enough money to pay for the manufacture of the fountain and Lost Art Limited (the Company who carried out the cast iron work in Pearson Park) have started to make it.
Mould for the fountain base 
Top column and bowl 
Top bowl 
Part of the lower column
The ‘not so good’ news is that since March when covid related restrictions were introduced, we have been unable to hold any of our planned events for 2020. We understand the need for restrictions and hope that they are helping to keep us all as safe as possible.
Our plan to conduct a crowdfunding campaign to raise the money we still need to transport, install and connect the Fountain has been put on hold until better times, but we hope to be able to launch the crowdfunding some time during the first half of 2021. Meanwhile, the manufacture is continuing and the work of Lost Art Limited is extremely impressive.
In July and August there were two pop-up table sales, organised by Avenues residents at short notice. Each time, we had three tables selling cards, plant, pottery and bric a brac and raised almost £600.
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Past Events:
On Wednesday11th March 2020, we held our sixth Meal and a Quiz night at Larkin’s Bar on Newland Avenue. There was a two course meal (with a choice of starter and main – or – main and desert) and a challenging quiz set by our regular quizmaster, Martin Brabazon. The event was fully booked well before the night and raised £397 for the fund whilst everyone had a very good time!
On Wednesday 6th November 2019 we held the fifth of our Meal and a Quiz nights at Larkin’s on Newland Avenue . The evening was very successful, with all tables booked well in advance. The quiz questions were thought-provoking and although no team managed to score 100%, all enjoyed the challenge. The evening raised just over £350 for the fund.
On Sunday 28th July, members of the Larkin Society read Larkin poems in three gardens in Victoria Avenue, with final readings in Pearson Park. The readers read their own personal favourites and gave interesting background about Larkin’s life
On Wednesday 10th April 2019 there was another of our very popular Meal & a Quiz nights at Larkin’s Bar on Newland Avenue.
On Wednesday 20th March 2019, the popular Hillbilly Troupe performed at Pave on Princes Avenue, with ticket proceeds being donated to the Fountain fund.
On Wednesday 3rd October we held the 6th of our highly popular Quiz Nights at Larkin’s Bar on Newland Avenue and raised just over £350
On Saturday 20th October we had a stall at the Green Fair which, for the first time, was held in Cottingham Civic Hall. The stall raised over £200
On Wednesday 4th July 2018 – the Hillbilly Troupe performed at Pave on Princes Avenue, with ticket sale proceeds going to the fountain fund.
On Sunday 15th July – In collaboration with The Larkin Society, there were readings of Larkin’s poetry in four gardens along Victoria Avenue and in Pearson Park,
Our 5th Garage Sale was held in the tenfoot at the back of 92 Victoria Avenue on Sunday 3rd June 2018.
Our 5th Meal and Quiz Night was held at Larkin’s Cafe Bar on Newland Avenue on Wednesday 13th June 2018. The cost was £15 for a 2 course meal from a special menu and included entry to the quiz. Larkin’s generously donated £5 per participant to the Fountain fund. It was a very enjoyable evening and raised £330 for the fountain fund
Christmas Cards for 2017 – Jacky Ward Lomax designed a new card for this Christmas 2017 – photo below
Our 4th Quiz Night at Larkin’s Bar on Newland Avenue was held on Wednesday, 25th October 2017. It was again a very popular event and raised just over £300 for the Fountain fund. A big thank you to Marjorie and Martin Brabazon who set the questions and to everyone who came along on the night, created a great atmosphere and made it such a success. Massive thanks also to the owner and staff of Larkin’s Bar who make us so welcome and look after us so well.
May 2017 – May was a busy month for us, we held our 4th Garage Sale, our 4th Meal and a Quiz night at Larkin’s Bar, Newland Avenue – both events were very successful – and on 25th May we held our second Annual General Meeting.
New Teatowel design
Our stock of Victoria Fountain teatowels ran out in July 2016, so Jacky Ward Lomax came up with a new design and we have them in stock, still for the very reasonable price of £5 each. If you don’t need one for yourself, they make good presents for friends and relatives and act as a reminder of the lovely place in which you live. Below is a picture of the new design. They are available by calling at 92 or 96 Victoria Avenue. If that’s not convenient, please email victoriafountain2011@yahoo.co.uk and we’ll suggest alternatives.
Ted Key Music Night – 15th June 2016
This was a highly enjoyable event, hosted by Larkin’s and including a two course meal deal. Ted’s unique mix of music and humour was much appreciated. A good time was had by all and the evening raised almost £200 for the Fountain Fund.
Garage Sale – 29 May 2016
Our third garage sale was held on Sunday, 29th May 2016. It was not as well attended as previous sales, but still raised just over £400 for the Fountain Fund. Many thanks to all those who helped on the stalls, donated goods for sale or came along to buy.
Meal and a Quiz – 25 May 2016
Our third Meal and Quiz was held at Larkin’s Bar, Newland Avenue on 25th May. The cost was £15 for a two course meal from a special menu and included the quiz fee. Larkin’s generously donated £5 per participant to the Fountain fund. It was a very successful event and raised almost £400 for the Fountain Fund.
Victoria Fountain AGM – 19 May 2016
On Thursday 19th May 2016 we held our first Annual General Meeting
Yorkshire Post Article
On 21st September the Yorkshire Post published an interesting article about our project to reinstate the fountain. If you’d like to read it, copy and paste the following link into your browser:
Local Consultation – the results are in!
In June 2015, we circulated consultation leaflets to 358 households in and around Victoria Avenue. We received 168 responses – a response rate of 44%, which is higher than most consultations achieve. Of the people who responded, 99% want a fountain reinstated on Victoria Avenue and 96% agree that carved marble is our best option.
If you were missed in the consultation and would like to give us your views, you can vote online on the ‘Your Views’ page of this website.
Garage Sale
On 31st May we held our second Garage Sale. It was a bit cloudy and a bit windy, but it stayed dry and we raised £630. Many thanks to everyone who donated items for us to sell and to all the people who came and bought things.
On 20th May we held a Quiz at Larkins Bar on Newland Avenue. It was extremely well attended and everyone seemed to enjoy it. We will be planning another quiz but, as it seems so popular, we will ensure that we have more space for the next one.
Estuary TV
On Monday 23rd March, Estuary TV included an item about our campaign in their news bulletin – the whole of the news bulletin is below. to view just our item (which is approximately 8 minutes into the programme) click on the arrow in the middle of the picture and then skip the first few minutes by moving the white dot along the time line underneath the picture to 8:20. When you’ve seen enough, you can stop the video by clicking on the two vertical grey bars in the bottom left corner of the video screen.
Fountain Shopping Bags
Legislation forcing supermarkets to charge 5p for a plastic shopping bag will be effective from October 2015 and many supermarkets are already charging for plastic bags, so our Victoria Fountain shopping bags will not only benefit the environment, but will quickly start saving you money. The bags are 100% cotton, so are strong but compact to carry when empty. They feature an attractive design by Jacky Ward Lomax and are £5 each, with all profits going to the Fountain fund. Check out our ‘Shop’ page for details of how to obtain them.
Fountain Mugs
We have commissioned Fountain Mugs, featuring an extract from one of Jacky Ward Lomax’s ‘mermaid’ paintings and they’re available for £6 each. Have a look at our ‘Shop’ page for pictures and a little more detail.
We are now on Facebook and ‘liking’ our page will ensure that you’ll be notified of any forthcoming events and will allow you to contribute any ideas you may have.
You can find our Facebook page by searching for Victoria Avenue Fountain on the Facebook website or by copying the following web address into your browser – https://www.facebook.com/victoriaavenuefountain?fref=ts%5B/embed%5D
Press coverage
The following article was published in the Hull Daily Mail on 3rd April 2014
Victoria Fountain Ceilidh
In association with the Hesslie Ceilidh Band we organised a Ceilidh which was held at The Endsleigh Centre, 481 Beverley Road, Hull from 7:30 pm on Friday 25th April 2014. Tickets were £10 (£4 of which went to the Victoria Fountain fund)
Charity Auction – 23rd October 2013
Our Charity Auction on 23rd October raised over £2,000 for the fountain fund and we are extremely grateful to Larkin’s, who hosted the event, Avenews, who sold tickets for us, KallKwik who printed promotional material for us, and to the local artists and businesses who donated items for us to auction.
Artist designed teatowels
We have commissioned some high quality 100% cotton teatowels printed with a design by Jacky Ward Lomax. The design celebrates the architecture and leaves of the Avenues, with an image of the fountain we hope to reinstate on Victoria Avenue in the centre. The design is printed in very dark green on a white background and the teatowels are available for £5 each, with proceeds going to the Fountain fund. If you don’t want one or two for your own use, they would make a good practical present and are a nice way of reminding your friends and relatives of the beautiful area we are lucky enough to live in.
Avenues Open Gardens – July 2013
For the 2013 Avenues Open Gardens event, we erected our wooden mock-up fountain on the Victoria Avenue/Salisbury Street roundabout. Below are the ‘with’ and ‘without’ photographs for comparison! Left click on the images to enlarge them.
Roundabout WITH fountain
Roundabout WITHOUT fountain
A generous donation of £250 was presented to Victoria Fountain at the Minerva Lodge’s Masonic Dinner on 25th October 2012
We are very grateful for the support of the Minerva Lodge (and Jacky Ward Lomax thoroughly enjoyed the excellent meal!)
Bronze fountain
We have been in contact with a company which could make a copy of the original Victoria Avenue fountain in bronze for considerably less than the amount we were quoted for a cast iron copy of the Park Avenue fountain. It would be a ‘working’ fountain and would have water cascading from the top and issuing from the mouths of the dolphins.
This is an exciting and encouraging develoment, but we’d need to do some serious fundraising before we could place an order and we need to investigate other materials too.
Here are some photographs of other fountain projects this company has undertaken:
Dolphin fountain
Cherub fountain
Roman lady fountain
Jean Hartley Memorial
Jean Hartley reading from Philip Larkin’s Hull & East Yorkshire in 1996
Jean Hartley died on 18 July 2011 aged 78 and on 14th August there was a Memorial Celebration for her at the Royal Hotel, Hull.
Jean Hartley was a friend of Philip Larkin and, jointly with her husband, ran Marvell Press who published Larkin’s first book of poetry.
Jean lived in the Avenues from the late 1960s onwards. She was instrumental in having the statue of Philip Larkin installed in the station forecourt and she had hoped to have a water feature built in his memory.
Because of Jean’s wish for a water feature, her daughters arranged for a collection to be made at the Memorial Celebration and for that collection to be given to the Victoria Fountain Fund.
We are most grateful to the Hartley family.
