Kingston Town is Irie

[legolamb]

In 2003 the Idler Book of Crap Towns named Hull the worst place to live in England. Three years on, a quarter of a million people who call the city their home have many reasons to proclaim it one of the best. Hull is changing and has plenty to offer those willing to seek out East Yorkshire.

During one episode of a renowned eighties sitcom, much hilarity came from Blackadder naming England’s great universities as Oxford, Cambridge and Hull. Since suffering mass bombings in the Second World War many people might struggle to come up with anything of note about the city. A former thriving fishing port fell into decay and was often looked over in favour of more vibrant neighbours Leeds and Sheffield by those seeking culture and entertainment.

Located at the end of the M62, Hull feels like the final plot on the radar of Eastern England. Miles of flat open fields give way to the striking sight of the Humber Bridge, once the longest single span suspension bridge in the world that joins the city to the south bank of the river.

As an old fishing port the city takes pride in its link with marine life, a feature attraction of which is The Deep. Essentially a big fish tank, The Deep is billed as ‘The World’s Only Submarium’ and has attracted over 2 million visitors since opening in 2002. Visitors journey from the beginning of time through to the present day, whilst viewing the history of the world’s oceans. Standing in semi-darkness whilst countless tropical fish saunter passed is relaxing and educational, also families are catered for and regular guided tours are available.

Historically the maritime and whaling industries provided the bulk of employment for Hullinsians and there are many free museums within the city centre attesting to this. Famous philanthropist and architect of slavery abolition William Wilberforce came from Hull and the city’s old town pays tribute with the house he was born turned into a museum in his honour.

Whether or not the Idler accolade struck a chord remains to be seen, but structural developments have sprung up in the city since the turn of the millennium. Greying stone buildings have made way for bright coffee houses and bars. The city’s marina area is vibrant with sailing boats leisurely passing through at all times. The 25,000 seater KC Stadium sits in a beautiful parkland setting ten minutes walk from the city centre and hosts sport all year round: Championship football side Hull City during the winter months and current cup holders rugby league side Hull FC in the summer. Earlier this year the stadium was voted the best by supporters of the Football League and massive pop concerts are held annually with Bryan Adams, Elton John and R.E.M. having visited recently.

Thoughts of food conjure up only one thing in coastal resorts and the fish and chips I’ve tasted in Hull remain to be bettered throughout the UK. Chippies are plentiful and make a point of asking for chip spice, a meat-tasting condiment prevalent in Hull takeaways.

A cultural surprise is the Hull Truck Theatre, seen over by award winning playwright and local man John Godber. A small and vibrant playhouse (200 people at a push), it plays host to numerous productions throughout the year, including Godber’s well acclaimed hit Bouncers and Up N Under, a rugby comedy that was made into a Hollywood film.

The nightlife is centred upon the old town and the new town. The former is full of wonderful old fisherman’s pubs stocked with guest ales, including the Old White Hart, where drinkers have warmed by the still burning coal fire since 1550 and where Sir John Hotham decided the fleeing King Charles II would be refused entry to the town in 1642, a judgement that inadvertently triggered the English Civil War and led to Hotham later losing his head. The new town plays hosts to the usual array of late bars and clubs, with Spiders nightclub popular with locals fondly recalling being served home-made cocktails named after objects in the Sci-Fi book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

After recovering from over-indulgence in Pangalactic Gargleblasters, a weekend spent wandering around the city makes you feel ready to dispel disparaging remarks made about Hull. With the city being off the beaten track you wonder whether its detractors have ever bothered to venture over to see it. The city may lack the enormity and star quality of northern neighbours Manchester and Leeds, but its only location that prevents it from being placed into that bracket. It appeals as a warm and proud area with plenty of history to offer those willing to seek it out. You feel welcomed and cheered when chatting to the locals about the fishing past and the changing city centre, a contrast to the cold shoulder and fake smiles of southern cities.

Idler published a second edition of Crap Towns in 2004 and the prosperous mood of East Yorkshire looked to have taken effect. Luton was voted top with Hull conspicuously absent from the top ten.

[RSWB]

How much did the Hull tourist board pay you to post that? lol

Seriously though, I used to live in Hull (and still visit frequently) and whilst there are some nice areas like the old town, other parts of the city are truly depressing, the city centre on the whole is very average and some of the main shopping streets are in a terrible state, streets like prospect street are filled with cheap pound stores, and old empty shop units, also the city centre doesn't really feel like a city, it's more of a town really.

The developments currently under construction like St Stephens are in my opinion badly thought out as it is a mainly retail led development on the edge of town and will take trade away from other areas, especially seeing as there will be a huge tesco extra opening there, plus the other stores that have been signed up to the new development mostly already have a presence in Hull, so I think we will be left with further empty units in the city centre once these existing retailers move into the new complex.

Here are two renders of the most celebrated new project in Hull (St Stephens):





To me it looks little better than any out of town supermarket, it seems Hull city council are desperate for any form of investment and they jump at the chance when anything like this is proposed, what would have been better in my opinion would have been to encourage retail led development to the existing shopping streets in order to stop the rot and turn them into vibrant streets full of activity - much better than a faceless box of a shopping centre.

Developments like the new stadium have been good for the city, as well as the very successful deep submarium visitor attraction but the city is still very behind in terms of development and it is a shame that the riverfront area remains a ghost town at all times, because it really should be seen as Hull's most precious asset, if they could develop the area around the river front into a vibrant area with shops, bars and restaurants then it really could transform the city, but sadly the marina/riverfront area is cut off from the city centre by a busy dual carriageway that links the port to the motorway network.

[RSWB]

To sum it up I do think Hull has potential but it's isolated position in East Yorkshire will probably mean it will never really become a booming city and attract huge amounts of investment, so it really needs the right people at the top to take it forward but sadly the current council are one of the worst in the country and with them in charge wrong decisions may be made with the future development of the city and I fear with projects like st stephens some bad decisions have already been made, although the new transport interchange (as part of the st stephens project) will be a big improvement on the old bus station.

[legolamb]

I agree with most of what you have to say BB.

It's a real shame that the city was blighted by so much disaster in the 20th century. From being the 3rd most heavily bombed town in the UK in WWII to the demise of it's main industry and subsequent dispersal of tight knit communities, disastrous decision making at council level and being overlooked for an urban area of its size on a national scale- Hull is the eternal underdog.

As you say, the potential is definitely there - and with the investment to make the most of what the city can offer and other big Northern towns cannot (the waterfront, the old town etc.) the place could be buzzing.

I do think the argument that Hull is 'cut off' is over-emphasised though. It depend's which way you are coming from. It has good transport links with the rest of the country, and it's easier for Europeans to get to than many other British cities.

[AndrewC]

I love the way the 'store' sign in that render is in the same style as the Tesco logo. How very convinient

[RSWB]

To be honest though lego lamb, most Europeans who visit the UK will come over by plane, especially with all these low cost airlines, very few tourists come over on the ferry.

I think the reason why it seems so cut off is that the area surrounding Hull is completely rural and there aren't any other large towns nearby, whenever you want to get out of the city towards anywhere else in the country you will nearly always have to travel west first for a good 40 odd miles before you can actually start to head in the right direction! (by Train or Car), also the river humber acts as a barrier to some extent and even though there is the humber bridge it only connects you over to rural lincolnshire.

Rail connections are also pretty bad and you usually have to change at either Doncaster or Sheffield if you are travelling to anywhere south of yorkshire (although it now has 5 trains to London every weekday).

[AndrewC]

Brighton Boy i completely agree. During my sad afternoons of looking at maps i've noticed that Hull - although in itself by no means a small city - lacks any kind of 'metro area population' bar the small villages and perhaps one or two small towns/commuter villages. Not only does this limit the population base ou have to work with but it also presents a clear geographical gap between Hull and the far more urbanised Doncaster/South Yorkshire area and Leeds etc beyond.

[Leeds No.1]

Hull isn't that isolated; Liverpool is equally isolated but because its relitavel big its not seen as that isolated even though geographically everything has to branch to get to it. But if Liverpool could grow, so can Hull- its already the UK's biggest port (well Humber).

[legolamb]

I think the principle behind attempting to improve the retail amenities in the city centre is sound, because the catchment area's population (although rural) is pretty big (800,000+) and quite affluent.

The problem has been that these punters take their money elsewhere (leeds, York etc.) It is important for the lifeblood of Hull to regain this revenue.

Just a shame that it can't be done by sprucing up what is already there, rather than misguided ventures like St. Stephen's.
It's a start though...

[RSWB]

Hull's catchment area is less than 800,000, I wouldn't include north east lincolnshire at all as Grimsby is the main shopping area for that area, I'd say it only has around 400,000 ish people living within 20 - 30 minutes travel time from the city.

Hull isn't the uk's biggest port, it is the third largest I think.

Liverpool isn't anywhere near as isolated due to the fact other large towns/cities are nearby and it has a large urban area surrounding it - at the moment Hull has one of the fastest declining populations in the country, and I seriously doubt it would ever grow into a major urban area like Liverpool.

[RSWB]

Here is a pic showing the different population figures based on travel time from the city, I'd say Hull's true catchment area is within 30 minutes as areas within the 45 minute travel time are too far out and have other major shopping areas like York, Leeds, Doncaster, and Grimsby that cater for these outer areas on the map.



If I used the 45 minute travel time population figure (850,000) as Hull's catchment then Brighton's catchment within 45 minutes would be around 2.5 million lol which is totally unrealistic.

[RSWB]

Originally Posted by legolamb

I think the principle behind attempting to improve the retail amenities in the city centre is sound, because the catchment area's population (although rural) is pretty big and quite affluent.

Hull will only ever be able to capture all of it's retail catchment if there were more top end stores in the city, at the moment all the affluent people from east yorkshire travel to Leeds or York if they want good quality shopping, Hull isn't seen as an attactive place to open these high class stores because it is on the whole a poor city with low wage jobs.
It doesn't really matter how wealthy the surrounding area may be, unless the city itself is wealthy we won't see top brand stores opening in Hull.

The new St Stephens development is a case in point - it hasn't attracted any top of the range stores, it has only attracted names that already have a presence in the city which is rather alarming for the rest of the city centre - names like sports soccer, next, game, tesco, oasis, tk maxx, hmv, river island, new look are just some of the stores that will be opening in the new shopping centre that already have a store in Hull, the council promised that it would attract new names to the city, but it looks like this will not be the case at all.

[Leeds No.1]

People from Grimsby and Cleethorpes will cross the Humber to get to Hull if transprot links improve as its retail scene improves. Also Hull on its own isnt the biggest port but the Humber ports are. Followed by Teesport.

[mistertee]

I like the "Please don't leave your needles here" signs in the toilets at Hull station!

[RSWB]

Well yes some people do come over from Grimsby but they wouldn't all come over on a regular basis as currently the shopping in Hull is not that much better than Grimsby itself and the journey time takes the best part of an hour - also there is the toll charge for crossing the river humber which I'm sure at 5 pounds for a return crossing is going to put off some people from coming over.

Doncaster is about to open a large new shopping centre and I would say people in north lincolnshire would sooner shop there than in Hull because of the bridges toll charge and because there are rail links along the Doncaster - S****horpe - Grimsby line, if you want to get to Hull from Grimsby or north lincolnshire you have to drive, the other option is to go on the Hull - Grimsby bus (which takes an hour and is only an hourly service) but stagecoach are on about scrapping the service due to lack of demand and the expensive humber bridge toll charge for large vehicles.

[legolamb]

[legolamb]

The fact remains that hull was once among the most thriving, respected and grand provincial cities in the country, with centuries of history, international trade and influence. It has been the last hundred years that have seen this crumble.

It's a fascinating case study for city centre regeneration because it poses the question - where do you begin? you know...with it's faded glory, with it's apathy, with it's leftover and decaying (and at the same time and in the right mood utterly breathtaking) wharves, piers, warehouses, dock offices, cobbled streets of medieval back alleys. With it's sixties carbuncles, it's decrepit industrial heritage and it's seeming inability to revive it's pulse through decade after decade of garguantan, imbecilic council cock-ups. Where the F*** do you begin?

The chicken and egg question - how can Hull follow the lead of it's former peer cities by restoring it's heritage (600 years more than leeds and manchester) whilst moving forward and attracting the investment it needs to do this in the first place? (i'm sure this could have been worded more betterly but you get the picture)

[potto]

Is there a case for so called managed decline? Maybe forcing the redevelopment of empty retails units into residential, thus boosting the town centre population and concentrating retail in a smaller area in the traditional core, giving a more vibrant experience even if initially the feelling of choice would appear to diminish; even go as far as returning large tracts of underdeveloped land to nature?!

Trying to attract large names is usually a thankless task they`ll just insist on some huge monster of a cheap build plonked somewhere, ideally on the edge near the busy roads. They feed on the obsession of places to appear to be growing... instead why doesnt Hull take a breather concentrate on some schemes to contract while increasing the urban quality of the core (doesnt have to be retail!) and then evolve from a solid base.

[legolamb]

the old town with it's Victorian Hepworth's arcade and adjoining indoor market in particular have always housed the main cluster of independent shops. the public square at the back (now called trinity square) has also always been home to quirky cafe's, funky clothes and record stores, so the actual core of independent retail has a spiritual home in the city. Hopefully this will not be affected by the city centres expansion westward and away from this area, but i do have my worries that this area could become a run down shadow of itself because of the lack of passing footfall.
I agree that before it looks at expansion,the city centre needs to capitalise on what it has.

As for city centre residential, it appears that derelict brown field sites along the river Hull are being targetted for newbuild as opposed to refurbs. Eventually it is also hoped that there will be new apartments on the marina and along the humber, however this ambition for developers appears to be stymied by the "castle street question" in which the A63 from the port and part of the busiest trade route in Europe (the E20 corridor from Moscow to Liverpool) cuts the estuary off from the bulk of town (the proposal for a 'cut and cover' solution is not expected to dig a spade til 2010 at the earliest!)

[legolamb]

this is the link to the URC for Hull - Hull Citybuild, and the six key developments proposed in it's masterplan

http://www.hull.co.uk/investing_keyd...aterfront.aspx

They seem to be of the "build it and they will come" school of lousy planning.
still can't make my mind up how much of it is pie in the sky, what is definite or even which bits are good ideas though...