
First maligned, then stereotyped before being finally forgotten. Hull’s football team have wrenched attention back in the direction of the little Yorkshire port, which at the end of 2008 is undergoing a little boom. John Hillman explains all.
For many years now P&O Ferries have been sailing from Hull to Rotterdam and Zeebrugge, making this small Yorkshire city the north’s gateway to Europe.
But while it has always been an important place to P&O Ferries, for many people around the UK Kingston-upon-Hull has been synonymous with post-industrial decline and hardship.
As a prosperous merchant town in the middle-ages it made a fortune importing wine and exporting local wool, joining the Hanseatic League (a sort of go-getters private members club and precursor to the EEC) and generally having a pretty good time of it right up until the First World War.
Unfortunately however the 20th Century was going to be tough one for the residents of Hull and it has suffered disproportionately since the outbreak of World War II.
Firstly, its importance as an industrial port and military arsenal attracted the unwanted attention of everyone’s least favourite unsuccessful Austrian artist, Adolf Hitler, and so he sent the Luftwaffe to inflict terrible and continuous terror, making Hull the second most bomb damaged city in the UK after London.
To add to the misery the collapse of the British fishing industry in post-war Britain, culminating in the Anglo-Icelandic Cod Wars of the 1970s, and the decline of industry in general at this time, lead to Hull becoming one of the most maligned cities in the UK.
But things finally seem to be looking up for Hull and its residents; a fact reflected in the increase in tourism brought about by some recent economic developments and a lot of new building work. Cafes and bars line the new marina and there’s a growing self-confidence amongst its small population.
Nothing reflects this more than Hull City FC’s spectacular ascent to third place in the premiership; inflicting terrible heartache on Arsenal, with a stunning victory at the Emirates, only to go and cheer the Gooners up a week later by heaping even more misery on their local rivals Tottenham.
Indeed it seems that the manager Phil Brown and his boys can do no wrong at the moment and this is reflected in sell out crowds for home matches and some local fickle footy-fans even ditching their Manchester United shirts for that of their local club.
Hull finally looks like it’s crawling its way out of the dark days of the 20th century and into the brighter future of the 21st, and here’s hoping that it continues. So while many of you may head through Hull on your way to board a P&O ferry to Rotterdam or Zeebrugge, it might be time to think about checking into a hotel a day early and having a look around before you set off.
The William Wilberforce Museum certainly deserves a visit, and who knows? Maybe Fat Boy Slim, Hull’s famous musical product, might give up on his soft southern lifestyle and ditch Brighton in favour of some beach parties by the Humber. Although to be fair you can reinvent a city but you can’t change its weather, not yet anyway.
Tags: Britain, P&O Ferries by John Hillman
No Comments »