What?
 A fruit wholesaler in Hull's fruit market, or, more particularly, their sign.

When?
2001 -

Why?
There's something about the bananas on the sign that makes me feel the need to worship at their banana temple.

What happened?
Out one night with my friend Jon, we happened to pass the premises of William Machin, a fruit wholesaler. Although I thought nothing of it at the time, something was happening in my subconscious mind. When I went to bed that night, I had a recurring dream, which was basically this:

Jon and I are walking down Queen Street, past Wm. Machin's place. I suddenly get a very strong smell of bananas in my nostrils, at which point Jon points to Machin's and says "Look, Machine Bananas". Then I would wake up with a start, still smelling bananas.

Having had the dream several times that night, the obsession was born. Although the name Machin is pronounced "May-chin", I always think of the place as Machine Bananas. I found that wherever I was going in Hull, I somehow ended up outside Machine Bananas, staring at their sign. The fact that it lights up at night made it more interesting in the early hours. I visited Machine Bananas to get the pictures above, and, as you can see, the banana sign is still extant. Also at the time of my visit, a little sign outside read "Wanted - banana boxes". Cool. On a visit shortly following that one (not that I'm stalking the place or anything), I was surprised to see a small group of people entering the banana temple, leaving the door open behind them. Although they disappeared into the bowels of the building  and I didn't get chance to talk to them, I did see inside the great place. It's very long, very dark, and full of boxes, presumably containing bananas. I was about to stick my head through the door for a sniff, when the other people I was with reminded me that we weren't actually in town to visit the place, and would I mind coming along and not being so bloody strange?

When Will it End?
This obsession has been on the back burner for long enough that I'm going declare it closed. There's not a lot more I can do about it, though if that banana sign ever comes my way, I'll have it.

Loose Ends
The following loose ends still remain. If you can answer them, please contact me.


Play Along at Home
You can find Machine Bananas at the following address:

42 Queen Street
Hull
HU1 1UU

Coming into Hull from the A63 eastbound, follow the road into the town centre. Follow the flyover as it bears right, then pass straight through a sort of  large roundabout. Shortly after that you will come to a junction with traffic lights just  before a bridge. Turn right here, Machine Bananas is about sixty yards down the road on your left.