Agree, with all of the above plus it's relatively cheap to live here. Compare a night out in Hull Old Town to a night out in York supposedly 'old town' and Beverley for that matter ( bar Nellies) and Hull comes out tops every time for me. There is no comparison.
Best city on earth bar none and East Yorkshire is the best county. I'm happy for everyone to leave us to it and keep this area as good as it is.
Im not from hull but ive been coming to watch city since I was a young lad and I love the place, the people are great and the place is nice too. Annoys me when people say its a ****hole and I always stick up for it. Most the people who say it have never been and just say it cos they saw in a book years ago that it used to be horrible.
the Unions and Hull dockers killed Hull in the 70s - constantly going on strike and holding the country to ransom - refused to accept progress and the introduction of RORO - constantly joining strikes that had nothing to do with Hull docks, Miners, Pentonville 5 etc - even the army was sent in to get the ships unloaded - eventually everyone said **** off to Hull and its union led **** and business went elsewhere leaving a knock on effect that involved thousands of people in fish processing and packing industries - once the biggest fishing port and the third largest port killed by the unions and the dockers who thought they could peddle industrial unrest and force a change of government - complete and utter **** up that trashed the city for decades
Having lived in London for 15 years now, after spending the first 28 years of my life living in Hull, I have sort of noticed a change in the perception of the city. Things like the Capital of Culture award and City being in the Premier League have been a big factor behind that. When I first moved to London, if people knew I was from Hull they'd instantly mention the Crap Towns book, or some survey that had slagged us off. Now they'll talk about more positive things. That said, I do think that Hull has changed for the better since I left. Maybe because I left. The marina/fruit market area is better - and feels less contrived - than most equivalent areas other cities have to offer. And I think Hull has an element of that all round. It's not your identikit city, which you get quite a bit of down south. Places like Spiders, the Adelphi and co still make it feel a bit ramshackle, but in a charming, endearing and unique sort of way. I've spent a bit of time in many English cities. Maybe because of my loyalties to Hull, my favourite other cities are Nottingham, Portsmouth and Norwich, which are often derided of perform poorly in meaningless surveys of cities. Places such as Newcastle, Leeds and Bristol have left me cold for the most part. Big cities with little variation in what you can do (Newcastle may have changed, to be honest, as it's a good 15 years since I was there). And when Hull gets compared unfavourably with the likes of Luton, Stevenage, Swindon and various others, it does leave me perplexed. Part of the problem - and Nottingham suffers from this too - is that the city boundaries don't take in the more salubrious areas on the edge of the unban conurbation, which leads to us taking a hammering in the crime, employment and education statistics. But mostly people who've never been to Hull - or who drove through a couple of times on the way to catch a ferry in 1988 - just like to slag it off because they want to wallow in their own ignorance.
I worked in Luton a few days a week for about 4 years. Luton is an absolute dump but i stayed a few miles up the road in Harpenden which is the opposite end of the scale.
I have to admit I am immensely proud of where I come from and never hesitate to educate the locals on what a fantastic place the Kingstown on the river is. In my job I produce quite a lot of reports for various oiks to peruse in meetings and they always have to ask what the picture in the background Of the report is.... Hull is all is all I have to say, although some also ask why the dominant colour seems to be orange before they get their rebuke that it is Amber not orange..... It doesn’t take long before they are coming to work on a Monday knowing the score of our game at the weekend.
There are 2 things that have massively changed the post-war reputation of Hull. Firstly, Hull City achieving 5 seasons in the Premier League and getting to an FA Cup final, this finally killed the Rugby town myth that held us back. Secondly the success of city of culture. Haven got our heads up we need to keep our pride in Hull and challenge all daft ****s who try to knock us down again.
I was in Jersey recently in a pub and the landlord was interested where I was from. 'Hull' said I. 'Facking Al, I was there when I was 18 for two hours, scooter boy on the way to see The Jam at Bridlington Spa, facking terrified we were, all big hairy bastards......' Seems they went in one pub across the road from the railway station and the landlord told them to sup up and **** off for there own safety. 40 odd years ago and that two hours spent in Hull certainly made an impression on that fella and his little gang of scooter boys from down Sarf.
Try this book https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1781384193/?tag=not606-21 Got a good section on the demise of the docks and the dockers' lifestyle, and lots of other sections too. Walter Cunningham hastened the inevitable demise that containerisation brought. Never mind GY, Immingham is the threat now. There's a programme on BBC4 about 80s music and how each major city in that decade had its own sound: Cov, Sheff, Glasgow, Manchester. We had the Housemartins and Everything But the Girl, both from Hull but not of Hull. Totally unrepresentative of the city apart from the Cott Rd campus. A nationally recognised music scene of groups with a distinct local mindset, sound or attitude is what Hull lacked. We produce the odd act that makes a minor ripple nationally but none that remotely capture the local spirit or that showcases who we are.
