To Hull and Back – Only the beginning.

My dad is from Hull … born and bred in the back end of Yorkshire … he left as soon as he finished school… he hasn’t returned!

So it is just my luck that I end up falling for a guy who lives in Hull, just when I thought this area of the country was gone from the Lowthrop’s family life!

OK jokes aside, I actually have a major soft spot for Yorkshire, always have, always will. Once a Yorkshire man always a Yorkshire man right? Well I was technically never from Yorkshire, nor a man, but with Yorkshire in my blood and having spent time at university in York I definitely grew to love the county of puddings, cricket and real ale and was secretly quite excited at the prospect of spending many a weekend in the rolling Yorkshire Dales with Phil.

Last weekend was my first trip up to visit Phil’s home and I was excited. Tales of teenage pub crawls and posh toilets have filled many an evening of ‘when I was young…’ with dad.

Arriving in Hull late at night after a busy day’s work at mum’s new deli Basilia Langley Mill (small plug there) it was pretty much time for bed and well after such a tiring day at mum’s new deli (another plug 😉 ) we didn’t get out of bed until well into the afternoon so there wasn’t really much time to do anything but a brief tour of the sights… 10 minutes later we were done!

Actually Hull has some pretty cool places of interest…

The Deep– I am promised a proper visit to go inside soon (when it’s not closed) to see this amazing underwater world, though for now seeing the state of the art shark fin shaped building was enough to amaze.

The Toilets – My dad and I regularly have conversations about why so many public toilets have been closed down, surely this is far from encouraging people to visit tourist spots and town centres, but instead encourages trips to out of town shopping centres and chain pubs. Well Hull is one place that is keeping to the old school and I was told I MUST visit Hull’s award winning public toilets… we ended up going twice, as they were closed on Sunday. When I did finally get inside it was as if I was going back in time to dad’s childhood (the Victorian era, hehehe) and the big wooden doors, stonework and massive sinks were certainly better than the tin holes you have to often pay for in parts of London. If you’re desperate for a pee in Hull… don’t nip into Maccy D’s, visit the toilets by The Minerva Brewery.

The Bridge – Yup that there bridge across ‘umber, that is almost as cool as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco… almost. It really is an amazing icon and the brief drive across certainly beats the old 3 hour journey on steam boat across the Humber. Next time I’m going to walk across…

The Beeb– I ended the day with a private tour of the BBC studios and got to see them broadcasting the 6.50pm news live, followed by my own chance to shine in the studio… watch out Peter Levy I might be after your job…

This weekend was only the beginning, on my upcoming visits I am planning a pub crawl around dad’s old watering holes, a proper visit to The Deep and next weekend a visit to one of Europe’s largest travelling funfairs… it is true what they say folks … IT”S NEVER DULL IN HULL!

No seriously it isn’t and to top it off Yorkshire locals are far friendlier, chattier and all round better than those southern softies I spend most of my week with in London 😉