Kingston upon Hull, more usually referred to simply as Hull, is a city and unitary authority which is situated on the north bank of the Humber estuary in northern England.

It is surrounded by the East Riding of Yorkshire and forms part of that county for ceremonial purposes. It is part of the Yorkshire and the Humber Government Office Region.

Details

Unlike many other ancient English cities, Hull has no cathedral. It does, however, contain Holy Trinity Church, which is the largest parish church in England. The church contains some of the finest medieval brick-work in the country, particularly in the transepts.

The city centre stretches from Paragon Railway Station to the Old Town (the main area of town unaffected by World War Two bombing) and is a mixture of shops, bars and clubs. The area boasts two large shopping centres; the Prospect Centre and Princes Quay Shopping Centre, the latter of which is built on stilts in the former Princes Dock. There is also the indoor Trinity Market featuring around fifty stalls. Hull's larger nightclubs in the city centre include Waterfront, Heaven and Hell, Pozition and, until recently, LA's. There is a concentration of bars and pubs in and around Old Town.

Hull is close to the Humber Bridge, the fourth-longest single-span suspension bridge in the world.

Hull is the only city in the UK with its own independent telephone network company, Kingston Communications, with its distinctive cream telephone boxes. Formed in the 1910s as a municipal department by the City Council, it remains the only locally-operated telephone company in the UK, although now part-privatised with the City Council retaining a 44.9 per cent interest. Kingston Communications were one of the first telecoms operators in Europe to offer ADSL to business users, and the first in the world to run an interactive television service using ADSL and as such Hull has a modern telephone infrastructure. Kingston Communications now have a monopoly over both dial-up and ADSL broadband internet in Hull and the adjoining built up areas.

Hull's daily newspaper is the Hull Daily Mail. BBC Television, Look North, BBC Radio Humberside, Viking FM, Magic 1161, the University of Hull's Jam 1575 and Kingstown Radio, the hospital-based radio station, all broadcast to the city.

The local accent is quite distinctive and noticeably different from the standard Yorkshire accent. The most notable feature of the accent is the strong "goat fronting" [1]; a word like goat, which is in standard English and across most of Yorkshire, becomes ("geurt") in and around Hull.

Hull, Massachusetts in the USA is named after this city, as is Hull, Quebec, which is part of the Canadian national capital region.

Transport

Transport within the city is provided by two main bus operators — Stagecoach in Hull and East Yorkshire Motor Services. A smaller operator, Alpha Bus and Coach, provides one of the two Park and Ride services in the city, whilst East Yorkshire Motor Services provide the other. Hull has the most 20 miles per hour zones in the UK.From King George Dock and the nearby River Terminal 1 at the Port of Hull (which is operated by ABP) P&O Ferries provide daily overnight ferry services to both Zeebrugge and Rotterdam.The nearest airport is in Lincolnshire, Humberside Airport, which mostly provides charter flights and also has four KLM scheduled flights to Amsterdam each day. Doncaster/Sheffield airport is within one hours drive of the city and provides low cost flights to may European destinations.The main rail terminus, Hull Paragon Station, provides services to the whole of the UK, including direct services to London, provided by Hull Trains. Hull is at one end of the UK section of the European road route E20 which routes from Shannon via Limerick and Dublin in the Irish Republic to Liverpool then via the M62 and A63 to Hull. This route contines to St Petersburg in Russia through Scandinavia via Esbjerg, Odense, Copenhagen, Malmö, Halmstad, Gothenburg, Skara, Örebro, Eskilstuna, Stockholm across to Estonia via Tallinn and Narva onto St Petersburg .

Arts and Education

Hull has an extensive museum and visitor quarter which includes Wilberforce House, Hull and East Riding Museum, the Ferens Art Gallery, the Maritime Museum, Streetlife and Transport Museum, the Spurn Lightship, the Arctic Corsair and the Deep. It also features the University of Hull and the associated Hull York Medical School, as well as a small campus of the University of Lincoln. There is also a large FE college, Hull College. There are over 100 local schools, including Hymers College.Hull is home to the Hull Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the most accomplished amateur orchestras in the country. Also resident in the city is one of the UK's oldest independent youth orchestras - Hull Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, established in 1952.

Sport

Kingston Communications Stadium.

The city has a professional football team playing in the Championship (second tier), Hull City AFC, who play at the Kingston Communications Stadium.

The city has two rugby league teams, Hull FC in the Super League who, along with Hull City AFC, play at the Kingston Communications Stadium; and Hull Kingston Rovers in League One of the National Leagues playing at Craven Park.

The city also boasts Hull Ice Arena, a large ice rink and concert venue, which is home to the Hull Stingrays ice hockey team. New to the City are the Hull Hornets American Football Club, who are currently waiting confirmation of their application to join the British American Football League.

Reputation

Traditionally a solidly industrial and unglamorous city, Hull has often been voted as the least popular place to reside in the UK, although voters' opinions in these polls may well have been swayed more by the city's bad reputation than by actual experience of the city itself. Opinion in Hull itself is divided; some residents are very proud of their city and its traditions, while others share this assessment.

Hull's national reputation is also reflected by the city's regularly poor performance in terms of most socio-economic indicators in comparison with the rest of the UK.

In 2004, Hull suffered from the worst examination record at secondary school level in the country. Only 28.9% of pupils achieved 5 or more GCSEs with grades of a C or higher. This is partly due to the fact that the city boundary does not include many of the town's wealthier suburbs, which are in the East Riding of Yorkshire instead. In subsequent years, however, its performance has improved.

The Australian author Peter Porter has described it as "the most poetic city in the United Kingdom", a judgement borne out by the number of famous poets it seems to draw. Philip Larkin, arguably the greatest English poet of the mid-twentieth century, wrote extensively in his poems about Hull, although not necessarily in terms which would draw in tourists. Among poems which contain descriptions of the area are "The Whitsun Weddings", "The Building" (about the Hull Royal Infirmary) and "Here".

Twinning

Hull is twinned with:
* Freetown, Sierra Leone
* Niigata, Japan
* Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
* Reykjavík, Iceland
* Rotterdam, Netherlands
* Szczecin, PolandIt is also, according to a humorous sign in the well-known New Adelphi club, twinned with "the darkest point of your soul."

History

The original settlement of Wyke, or Wyke-Upon-Hull, was established by force of arms by the then Archbishop of York, John Wyke in 1291, by annexing the existing town of Myton, a town on the north bank of the River Humber that derived its income from fishing & as a port, in the area now known as Corporation Pier, & the half square mile area of marsh land to its north.

The locals resented this and resolutely refused to call their town Wyke, instead using Hull, the name of the river which runs into the Humber there. The name & title of the city did not officially become "the City & County of Kingston upon Hull" until 1897. The port was used by the abbey for distribution of its wool. The location became strategically important to the English in conflict with the Scottish in the late 13th century. Edward I selected the site for its ideal proximity to his kingdom's adversary. Kingston-Upon-Hull was an advantageous port from which to launch his campaigns, sufficiently deep within the boundaries of England to afford security. The associated royal charter, dated April 1, 1299 remains preserved in Hull's Guildhall Archives.

The charter of 1440, constituted Kingston upon Hull a corporate town and granted that instead of a Mayor and Baliffs there should be a Mayor, Sheriff and twelve Aldermen who should be Justices of the Peace within the town and county.

Hull in 1866.

Hull was a major port during the Later Middle Ages and its merchants traded widely to ports in Northern Germany, the Baltics and the Low Countries. Wool, cloth and hides were exported, and timber, wine, furs and dyestuffs imported. Leading merchant, Sir William de la Pole, helped establish a family prominent in government. Bishop John Alcock, founder of Jesus College and patron of the grammar school in Hull, hailed from another Hull mercantile family.

Between the 13th and 16th century, Hull was the second largest port of England after London and was a sophisticated metropolitan international city. Due to the maritime history of Hull, the port is thought to have been a key point for the transmission of syphilis. First evidence of syphilis in medieval Europe has been found at the site of an Augustine Friar (destroyed 1539) in Hull. Carbon dated skeletons of monks who lived in the friary showed bone lesions typical of venereal syphilis. The find in Hull disputes the assertion that syphilis came from the New World through contact of Christopher Columbus's crew with American natives. [2]

Hull grew in prosperity and importance during the 16th and early 17th centuries. This is reflected in the construction of a number of fine, distinctively decorated brick buildings of which Wilberforce House (now a museum dedicated to the life of William Wilberforce) is a rare survival.

In 1642 Hull's governor Sir John Hotham declared for the Parliamentarian cause and later refused Charles I entry into the City and access to its large arsenal. He was declared a traitor and despite a parliamentarian pardon was later executed. (He was actually executed by the parliamentarians, not the royalists, when he tried to change sides.) This series of events was to precipitate the English Civil War since Charles I felt obliged to respond to the 'insult' by besieging the City, an event that played a critical role in triggering open conflict between the Parliamentarian and Royalist causes. For some of the Civil War, and for some of the Interregnum, Robert Overton was governor of Hull.

Hull developed as a British trade port with mainland Europe, Whaling until the mid 19th Century and deep sea fishing until the Anglo-Icelandic Cod War 1975-1976, which resolution led to a major decline in Hull's economic fortune. At one stage it was the "third port" in England, due largely to the success of the Wilson Line of Hull shipping firm, the largest privately owned shipping concern at that time. The significance of this successful firm in Hull is seen by statues in the city centre to the brothers that ran it, it was only when it was sold to John Ellerman in 1915 that it declined and was in correllation with the decline of Hull as a port to rival London and Liverpool. It remains a major port dealing mostly with bulk commodities and commercial road traffic by RORO ferry to Rotterdam and Zeebrugge on mainland Europe. The city remains a UK centre of food processing.

Humber Bridge from the south side

Because of its docks and proximity to continental Europe the city sustained particularly significant damage in bombing raids during the Second World War and much of the city centre was devastated. Most of the centre was rebuilt in the years following the war, but it is only recently that the last of the "temporary" car parks that occupied the spaces of destroyed buildings have been redeveloped.

Hull's administrative status has changed several times. It was a county borough within the East Riding of Yorkshire from 1889 and in 1974 it became a non-metropolitan district of Humberside. When that county was abolished in 1996 it was made a unitary authority.It is now a thriving city with many new developments in the process of completion.

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Kingston-upon-Hull at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

	Agriculture	Industry	Services
1995	2,748	5	1,014	1,729
2000	3,231	3	1,205	2,023
2003	3,711	6	1,406	2,299

includes hunting and forestry

includes energy and construction

includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured

Components may not sum to totals due to rounding

Culture

In the 1960s the band most likely to make it big was the popular 'Rats'. However they didn't make it big as the Rats but when spotted by David Bowie, they changed their name to 'Spiders From Mars' and were a globally known sensation. Mick Ronson (guitar) was the best known. He later went on to record with Lou Reed and Bob Dylan. Now there is a Mick Ronson Memorial Stage in Queens Gardens in Hull (Queens Gardens used to be a dock, and incidently, this is where Daniel Defoe had 'Robinson Crusoe ' set off from on his voyage).

Prior to the 1980s the Hull music scene thrived at The Wellington Club (universally known as "The Welly") which hosted the best punk and ska bands from 1977 through to 1981 and on Groucho's Night (which was Sunday nights at the Humberside Theatre - now the home of Hull Truck Theatre Company). Hull had a thriving music scene in the early eighties, firstly with punk bands such as Born BC, Foeticide, the Sons of the Pope, Strangeways and the Nervew Blocks who drew huge audiences throughout the period. Most of these released locally successful records which received great airplay on Radio 1 (Peely, Jenson etc) and beyond. The future for Hull continued beautifully with bands such as The Red Guitars, The Housemartins, and Everything But the Girl (who took their name from a local furniture store called Turners which advertised as having "everything but the girl" and sited at the corner of Beverly Rd and spring Bank.advertising slogan). The Housemartins and EBTG went on to achieve international fame, and to a lesser extent, so did the Red Guitars. Bushfire moved down to London and became well known on the music scene there, while Jane's Plane, an all-women band of local popularity amongst feminists, broke up. During this period there was a growing African music scene in Hull, the Red Guitars' "Marimba Jive" reflects this but the Adelphi Club's booking of African bands and the existence of the pop group, the Business and, later, Cool Drink in Hull pushed it further. Later, the Hull band Kingmaker achieved moderate chart success. Roland Gift DJed at local nightclub Spiders and owned another nightclub in the city. The city currently has a moderately large hardcore punk and emo music scene.

The Music scene in Hull is thriving at present with over a hundred bands playing at various venues across the city throughout the week. Some bands have gone on to receive national recognition. Fonda 500 and Freaks Union are regularly playlisted on MTV and The Paddingtons have been signed by former Oasis mentor Alan McGee and have had two singles enter the UK's Top 30. The Adelphi is still probably the most famous of venues in the city having hosted the likes of Radiohead, Stone Roses, Pulp, Mardrae, The Cranberries, My Bloody Valentine and Oasis back in their formative years. Just recently in the last two years, The Sesh at Linnet & Lark has hosted weekly Live Music events with attendances averaging 300+.

Bands to take note of include The Beautiful South, Harri Watts Band, Cowfish, Cracktown, Soulflame, Ermest, The Rise, Circus Envy, The Landau's, Slightly Roasted, Turismo, Happy To Be Here, Silence In The Streets, The Happiness Patrol, Second Sky, Dirty Dreamers, The Bonnitts, Last People On Earth, The City Ghosts, DumpValve, Shindigg, Red Night Strip, Superscape, The 59 Violets and AfterGlow.

Notable residents

*Andrew Lincoln, actor.
*Andrew Hodgson, post modern writer and editor of "This Disco is Over" arts magazine.
*Andrew Marvell, poet and parliamentarian, grew up in Hull and represented the town in Parliament. A secondary school is named after him in the Bilton Grange area of the city.
*Alex Deakin, BBC Weatherman comes from the area.
*Amy Johnson, the pioneering aviator who was the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia, was born in Hull in 1903. A statue depicting her can be found near to the city centre's main Library.
*Brian Rix, actor.
*Though not born in the city, the notorious arsonist and serial killer Bruce Lee lived in Hull and committed his crimes there in the 1970s.
*Caitriona O'Reilly, poet.
*Debra Stephenson, actress.
*Douglas Dunn, poet, worked in Hull.
*Gay-Yee Westerhoff, cellist of the strings quartet bond, was born in Hull on June 14th.
*Gerald Thomas, famous Carry-On director was born in Hull.
*Ian Carmichael, actor.
*Ian Moor, singer, born in Hull. Winner of the 1999 "Stars in Their Eyes" Live Grand Final, and subsequent 10th anniversary special "Champion of Champions" show.
*James Evans, missionary and creator of the writing systems of several Native American languages.
*BBC Radio 1 presenters JK and Joel first honed their partnership on Viking FM.
*John Alderton (actor), although born in Lincolnshire, grew up and was educated in Hull at Kingston High School.
*Jon Culshaw, the impressionist and comedian, began his career as a DJ on Hull station Viking FM.
*John Prescott, MP for Hull and current Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
*John Venn, the British logician and philosopher, famous for conceiving the Venn diagram was born in Hull in 1834
*Joseph Malet Lambert, a British education reformer who proposed universal education as an economic stimulus was born in Hull in 1853. A secondary school in the east of the city is named after him.
*Kelly Bailey, singer, model and dramatic actress was born in Hull in 1981.
*Lene Lovich, punk singer, attended school in Hull in the 1960s.
*Lionel Davidson, novelist, was born in Hull.
*Maureen Lipman, actress.
*Michelle Dewberry, Winner of the second series of The Apprentice, the BBC reality TV show.
*Mick Ronson, guitarist with David Bowie's Spiders From Mars and musical partner of Ian Hunter.
*Nick Allix, Video editor and musician - a mainstay of the UK music video business and guitarist in Honeybubble during the early 1990's.
*Nick Barmby, footballer.
*Norma Waterson, folk singer.
*Hull is also the adopted home of Paul Heaton, of The Housemartins and now The Beautiful South. The other members of the Beautiful South are all from Hull.
*Paul Moor, Ten-pin bowler & Two-time European Ranking Champion. Born in Beverley, now living in West Hull.
*Philip Larkin, poet and librarian, worked in Hull University, where he has a building named after him.
*Reece Shearsmith, comedian, born in Hull
*Richard Morris (musician, journalist), lived in Hull for four years while studying at Hull University and had a large influence on the local music scene before departing for the South Coast.
*Rob Hubbard, a very famous Commodore 64 SID6581 composer was born in Hull.
*Roland Gift, actor and singer with the Fine Young Cannibals, was born in Hull in 1962.
*Roy North, Basil Brush's straight man for many years ("Mr Roy") - his real name is Roy Stather.
*Sade Adu's backing band (although not Sade herself).
*Sean O'Brien, poet.
*Stevie Smith, poet, was born in Hull.
*Mike Collins, Grumpy Old Man, was born in Hull.
*Fila Brazillia Steve Cobby and Dave ‘Man' McSherry - two of the best-loved men in dance music - Fila Brazillia
*Thomas Perronet Thompson, radical reformer, MP and advocate of universal suffrage was born in Hull in 1783.
*Thomas R. Ferens, philanthropist, industrialist and Member of Parliament for East Hull from 1906-1918, proved to be one of the city's greatest benefactors, endowing among others University College, the Ferens Art Gallery, and East Park in 1927.
*Sir Tom Courtenay, the highly respected actor, was born in Hull.
*Genesis P-Orridge, musician and performance artist, member of COUM Transmissions, Throbbing Gristle, and Psychic TV, grew up in Hull and attended university there.
*William Wilberforce, the leading slavery abolitionist, was born in Hull 1759, baptised at Holy Trinity church and represented the City as its Member of Parliament until his death in 1833. A sixth form college is named after him in the east of the city, as is a building at the university.

Kingston upon Hull: Encyclopedia BETA

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Kingston upon Hull