Hull 2017

One of the great things about the City of Culture programme is it gives you a reason, not that you should need one, to visit places you’ve never been before.  So on Saturday 10^th April I headed across the Pennines to Hull.  I’d booked the train weeks ago and the weather was going to be the luck of the draw, thankfully lady luck saw that I arrived in East Yorkshire to a perfect spring day of unbroken sunshine.



As this was my first visit my immediate call was to the Hull 2017 welcome desk on the station concourse where I was greeted by the volunteers who were friendly and informative about what was on, and who devised a route I should follow to make the most of my day and advised where to get lunch.  Armed with my information leaflets and a map I headed off towards the heart of the city centre.  

My first stop was to see the poppies “Weeping Window”, I’d volunteered as one of the Culture Ambassador team when the poppies were at St George’s Hall in Liverpool last year, so was interested to see how they compared.  The Hull Maritime Museum is a smaller building and at the end of the main shopping street so the location is busier and has lots of people just walking past, whereas in Liverpool people had made a conscious decision to go towards the installation.  It felt less sombre that in Liverpool, although the sunny day atmosphere also contrasted with the Remembrance Day and winter period that St George’s Hall hosted them.

Weeping Window - Paul Cummins and Tom Piper

I then went into the Maritime Museum which has some interesting material telling the story of the port and especially the Whaling and Fishing industries.  The Court Room is a very impressive room which echoed to the wealthy merchants and ship owners who once here to watch their ships and cargo sailing past the windows.  Across the road stands the Ferens Art Gallery.  The first work you see looks like a mound of pebbles and stones relocated from the shoreline, but are in fact all pieces of plastic and polyurethane which have been moulded and transformed by the actions of the sea.  It fills the centre of the entrance foyer very well.  

Cove - Alexander Duncan

Moving into the galleries there is a good selection of nautical paintings but my eye was particularly taken by large black boards with chalk drawings by Tacita Dean "Roaring Forties: Seven Boards in Seven Days, 1997".

Roaring Forties, Tacita Dean

Down to the Old Town, like many maritime cities there is grandeur and wealth in the architecture lining the streets,  I enjoyed the sights and smells of Trinity Market – a proper market with atmosphere (take note Liverpool's St Johns Market!).

Over the road to the Fruit Market in search of lunch.  As I turned into Humber Street I was stopped by one of the Culture Volunteers and told I'd enjoy the gallery but I'd need to discover what it was myself.  So I entered Kingston Art Galley to discover... a lot of urinals! Fountain 17 turned out to be one of the highlights of the day.  It was quirky and fun, I loved it so much I bought the book..

My lovely volunteer was pleased that I had enjoyed her recommendation for art, and now pointed me in the right direction for lunch at Thieving Harrys at the end of the street, and I had a very good burger, chips and a grapefruit juice for £9.  Before I left Humber Street the end of the building opposite was a fun colourful addition to the landscape

I walked along the waterfront towards The Deep on the other side of the River Hull – although I didn’t go in as aquariums aren't high on my list of places to visit and I wanted to stay out in the fresh spring sunshine.

Back to the boardwalk alongside the River Hull the traditional trawler Arctic Corsair is moored outside the transport museum but my next call was the William Wilberforce House, this was interesting to see both the 17th century house, and the slavery exhibition.  It really reminds you of the cruelty of the human race, but also it's humanity, even if the latter doesn't always outweigh the former.

The Streetlife Transport Museum was next with a good collection of trams, buses and mock-up shops with an extensive carriage collection on the 1st floor.

After this I traced my steps back to the Fruit Market as I wanted to see the difference to the river scene as the tide had now come in, so I grabbed an ice cream and watched some yachts entering the marina basin.

As the galleries were now closing, and the shops winding down, my day was drawing to a close so I had a walk around Queens Dock Gardens before heading back to the station.  

Luckily the volunteer information was still open so I made a point of stopping to thank them for their help and to say how much I had enjoyed the day.  The Hull 2017 programme is unfolding and changing throughout the year so there remains plenty to go back for, and I'm already planning my next visit for a couple of months time.