To Hull and back (in a day)

I've just got back from the trip of a lifetime. And it was to Hull.

I went looking for history, and I found it round every corner. I went looking for architecture and it hit me from every direction. But it was not those memories I came away with at the end of the day, but the friendly attitude of the people there.

I don't think I have met such friendly and helpful people in any other city in the world. And I've been to quite a few. In fact the unfriendliness of the people is the only thing I remember about Detroit, Michigan. But that's another story.

This story concerns Hull. I went there because I kept asking myself "What is it about Hull?" By this I meant, why does that city have such an independent spirit. Why does it have its own train service? Why does it have its own communications company? How did it produce such a character as Wilberforce who thought so differently to most people of his generation? Why do the planes use it as a turning point when flying to Holland?

I went with those questions in mind and I discovered a few more when I got there. How could they afford such amazing buildings? Why are the people so friendly? What is it about Hull?

As I was coming away on the train at the end of a day walking the streets of Hull I wondered if it's because the place is so isolated. It's out on a limb. It's miles from anywhere and yet it has been a borough for over 700 years. It has looked Eastward to the sea for its income and not Westward to the land. It is cosmopolitan in that it has had influences from Scandinavia, the Baltic and the Low Countries. And yet I saw very few ethnic faces there. What a place.

Take my advice. Take a look at Hull. You won't be disappointed.