Hull - City Of Culture 2017

I am not sure that the City of Hull is a place I have thought about a great deal during my life. It seemed to sit on that far extreme of the East Coast of England which required some dedication to make the effort to get there. From a caravanning prospective I knew that Swift Caravans were made nearby. I have learnt that William Wilberforce, who fought to end the Slave trade, was a son of Hull as was Amy Johnson the aviator a daughter of Hull. Perhaps one of the most well-known adopted sons of Hull was the poet and writer Philip Larkin who is immortalised in bronze as you exit the station concourse in Hull. He was not always complimentary about his adopted City and once said “What a hole, what witless, crapulous people” , hardly likely to endear him to the good people of Hull!!!

So where is all this leading? As most of you will know, Hull is the 2017 UK City of Culture so perhaps deserves a look. As a City of Culture there will be many and varied events throughout the year although our visit was really more about the place. To honour the selection as City of Culture the BBC decided that Hull would feature as one of the town/cities always on the nightly weather map throughout 2017. What greater honour could any place have!

Finding somewhere to stay with the motorhome with easy access to public transport to Hull was not quite as easy as I had envisaged. In the end we decided to make use of the Club site at Bridlington as it had an hourly bus service and it was close enough to Bridlington to take a taxi if we wanted. It is about a fifty minute leisurely train journey to Hull. On arrival at the main station it was, I thought, somewhat ironic that there were hoardings in the station with, I assume modernisation work going on. Hardly good timing! Stepping out into the sunshine from the station you immediately get the impression that Hull is no backwater but a city with some substance.

Our plan was to see some of Hull so we would be spending a lot of time walking. Initially we headed for the City Hall which is in a nice Square with the Maritime Museum to one side. There was an extra element of theatre as it was clearly Graduation Day with students and families from all around the globe. You get the sense that Hull still is but was once even grander. I suspect the second world war was responsible for a lot of damage in the City so you have the old mixed with the post war rebuilding. From City Hall we walked through a bit of Queens Gardens heading out towards Drypool Bridge passing en route the rather impressive Guildhall. At the bridge we joined the broadwalk along the river. The tide was out exposing the mud. Obviously in the past this was part of the Cities docks with cargo being unloading into the adjacent warehouses. As you make your way towards the Humber you pass the Museum Quarter but we continued on. There are a number of interesting bridges all of which can swing open. Almost at the end there is a large structure that is a tidal barrier which I assumes protects the City from being flooded. Eventually we reach the end of “The Deep” and can see the mighty Humber in front of us.

We now start to head back towards the City Centre. The old docks are now a marina for pleasure craft. There are some lovely old building that face onto the old docks. Back in the centre we refresh ourselves with a cup pf tea before making our way back to the station. We have only had a glimpse of Hull and I am sure you could spend days here and not see everything. We are glad we have made the effort and we leave with a much enhanced impression of the City.