Mike Garrett organized a minibus to take 13 History Club members to visit Hull on 23rd May 2017. Mike and Megan originally met at Hull University, and they had carefully prepared a guided itinerary of the city’s history for us.
We started at the pier in hesitant sunshine, and after an introductory talk covering events up to 1275 we had a coffee (and for some, a bun or two). We then walked alongside the muddy Hull river, observing the new Scale Lane Bridge, and visited the Museums Quarter with a choice of the William Wilberforce, Street Life, East Riding or Arctic Corsair - more if you were quick.
After a lunch break Mike took us through the old maps in an impromptu outdoor schoolroom, and Megan outlined the horrendous experiences of Hull in the second world war. The walk continued with a welcome stop at Ye Olde White Harte pub for appropriate refreshments and an unexpected meeting with an independent parliametary election candidate who allowed us into the Plotting Room which had played its part in the events prior to the Civil War in 1642. We visited the site of the old docks, now a park, and the original city walls.
Further stops included the Land of Green Ginger, Beverley Gate and the Marina, before a visit to Holy Trinity Minster and the Old Grammar School. By now the sky was blue, the sun was beating down, and the Humber had turned to a bluer shade of dirty brown. So after an unscheduled stop for an ice cream we boarded the bus and were home in Gringley by 5.30pm, for yet another pint in the Blue Bell, purely for comparative scientific purposes.
A big thank you to Mike, who is an excellent and through tour guide, and has clearly missed his true vocation.
A fuller set of photos is shown in the SCRAPBOOK page.