Issue No. 10 - Where Next? - Hull named the City of Culture 2017

  

The Iconic Humber Bridge

A couple of weeks ago saw Hull named as the UK’s next City of Culture 2017.  It did this by seeing off robust competition from Leicester, Dundee and Swansea Bay.  But just what is it that the judges saw that made them want to choose Hull, and why should we consider a weekend in this north eastern city next month?

Firstly, getting there couldn’t be easier, hop on a train from London Kings Cross and you can be there in around 3 hours, buy your tickets in advance from Hull Trains can mean that you can find yourself a bargain.  If you’re driving, take the M1, M18 and M62 East and it will take you right to the door.

Philip Larkin greets you at
Hull Paragon Train Station

There are hotels to suit just about all pockets ranging from the five star Village Hotel to the usual suspects of PremierInn, Holiday Inn Express, Mercure Hull Grange Park Hotel and the Ibis to name just a few.

So what is Hull famous for?  Well, poet Philip Larkin (1922-1985) for one, he was Librarian at the University of Hull’s Brynmor Jones library for 30 years and William Wilberforce the English politician who was the leader of the movement to abolish slavery originated from Hull.  Sadly he died before the Act could be passed through

William Wilberforce

parliament.  To explore the history of slavery, abolition and the legacy of slavery, you can visit the Wilberforce House Museum in Hull’s Museum Quarter.

Other notable but perhaps less worthy celebrities originating from Hull are Maureen Lipman, the Housemartins and the Fine Young Canibals’ Roland Gift. Not forgetting John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minster during the Blair administration.

Heres a shortlist of what to do on your weekend away:

The Hull Fish Trail

Walking the Fish Trail will help to get your bearings visit http://mediafiles.thedms.co.uk/publication/YS-EY/cms/pdf/Hull%20Map.pdf for the route.

You may also want to go in search of the cream telephone boxes unique to Hull

The Deep Aquarium

Along the Fish Trail you will find The Deep aquarium.  To find out more visit: http://www.thedeep.co.uk/

What about a premiership football match?  You can get your Hull City tickets from: http://www.hullcitytigers.com/tickets/

For a bit of culture prior to 2017 why not visit the Ferens Art Gallery. Recent exhibitions have included Andy Warhol, Leonardo Di Vinci and local artist David Hockney.  Visit http://www.hullcc.gov.uk/ferens to find out more.

In the evening try out Hull Truck Theatre http://www.hulltruck.co.uk/book-tickets/buy-online or the Hull New Theatre http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase or for something a little less cerebral, what about a pubcrawl?  There are heaps of inexpensive pubs in Hull, most of which do food.  For a suggested route, check out http://www.barcrawl.co.uk/pubcrawl.aspx?Crawl=2547 

What are your essentials for a weekend away?  Well, don’t forget your:

Weekender bag, Toiletry Bag, Book, Frock, Shoes, Towel and your 

Walking Shoes you can purchase these all from www.lotustravelessentials.co.uk

Thanks for reading, see you next week and in the meantime, happy & safe travelling.