My Hull

When I am searching for inspiration for teaching or when having my lunch I will look out of my office window and stare at wonder over my city of Hull and the East Yorkshire countryside, no doubt all you can see on the photo is the roof. All I can see is a big sky and green spaces. 

I know you have looked at the picture and think I need my eyes testing. But when looking in reality rather than a picture, the surrounding area does stand out. 

Maybe it is just that I am in love with the city and surrounding area. I fell in love at first sight, 28 years ago, when I came for an interview (twice in fact). 

There was just something about it. Underrated under stated and completely wonderful. Everyone I met was welcoming, without being overly familiar, just a matter of fact intimacy you get when an old friend pops in for a cuppa. 

I knew then that I would live here for the rest of my life.

After I moved here it just got better. Newland Avenue, Pools Corner, Hessle Road, the Marina, Minerva, Spiders. Hull was just so different so amazing, so much fun. Best of all the rest of the world didn’t know it was here.  It felt so exclusive. 

Everyone that spends anytime here falls in love (those that have any taste). The city is full of people that came to visit and have stayed. 

I was 18 when I moved here to start my nurse training. On occasion I would miss my family, so I would wander down to the marina, and sit looking out over the Humber, to this day it is still a place that gives me comfort. 

Hessle Road and Newland Avenue, were a revelation, with shops like Setams, and Pools Corner, I loved browsing around both, you could spend hours in them, sadly both shops are no longer around and the world is lesser place. 

Then there was Spiders, the best student nightclub in the world. Incredibly cheap to get in, an unfathomable admission policy,  new and interesting cocktails such as a Brown Bomber, Pink Pudsey, and a Pangalactic Gargleblaster. It is still there so if you have never been, put on your ripped jeans, an old t-shirt and get yourself to New Cleveland street on a Friday or Saturday night and have yourself a Pangalactic Gargleblaster. You won’t regret it (well you might).

So 2017 is Hull City of Culture year. So far it has been brilliant. However there is one problem. There are now thousands of people that have found out have incredible Hull is. 

It is lovely that everyone likes Hull, but it was a hidden gem that has been unearthed and I am a little worried that Hull loses its vitality and becomes a curiosity for tourists. The one thing that heartens me is that not everything is finished, and the Hullensian spirit of doing it there own way when they want shines through. Hull doesn’t fit in a box.

I would not want to be anywhere else.