Posted: 07/05/22

Sunrise 3 May - Dan Little

THE LAST WATCH’    #HullVigil730  

You enter your own bubble for an hour.  It’s like, here are the keys to the city.  Look after it/watch it for this one hour you’re detached from the rest of society.  

For this hour, you’re probably the highest person in the city.  You have a sense of duty to watch over the city, while a million thoughts fly through your mind.  

I watched the sunrise as it broke lower cloud levels until it disappeared behind higher cloud, leaving me staggered at how quickly the Earth moves.  

My thoughts turned to every motion I could think of: how a certain place or buildings made me have happy thoughts, how certain places/buildings brought me sad thoughts, to the outrageous thought of ‘How did that football get there?’  Even thoughts about city planning and what needs improving.  

You’ll see something from this advantage point you’ve never seen before and it sets you thinking.  You’ll see a date on a building like 1885 and then think back to how the city would have looked, imagining Queen’s Gardens full of water and ships, putting the history of our city that you’ve learned into places you can see and points of time.  

I felt my time watching over my city was coming to an end.  I could pinpoint home as I could see the towers of Beverley Minster.  My thoughts turned to my family, hoping my children haven’t woken my partner up too early.  

Then, like old age creeping upon you, I heard my Companion’s footsteps walking towards the bubble I was in, thinking I want more time, then the door opened.  Reality had its firm grip on me once again.  

It was a privilege to be the last watcher over my city, Kingston upon Hull.