Walking From Hull to Paull

Recently John and I decided to just start walking and see where we’d end up. The idea was to pack a sleeping bag, a bivvy bag, a tarp, food and water and then just walk. It’s as easily said as it is done so we put our plan into action last Friday. We chose to walk east along the Humber towards the North Sea in the hope of reaching the only riverside village downstream of Hull: Paull.

We set off at 5pm after the sun stopped burning everything in its path. I was a little bit anxious because I had already walked several miles that day in what might not have been the most sensible shoes. But I just put a plaster on the sore bit and decided I would just walk as far as I could.

Bird Gathering

The route to Paull is pretty easy to follow. Once you get to the Humber all you have to do is follow the river downstream. With the Humber on our right and the industrial area of Hull port on our left we walked past abandoned wooden ships, manky cats, old railway tracks and ramshackle buildings. At the ferry port we watched the Pride of Rotterdam being loaded for its trip back to the continent but despite walking through so much industry it was surprisingly green. Once you make it past the docks there is a wide strip of high grass and hardy wild flowers between industrial estates and the river. We saw a deer and a fox and watched a bird gathering.

We had to stop our straight route to get through Salt End Chemicals Park. It felt a little bit eerie and post-apocalyptic walking past these huge metal containers and buildings without another human soul in sight. The smell certainly didn’t help either! Once we left Salt End behind us we rejoined the Humber and were only a few hundred metres from Paull.

After some searching and indecisiveness we finally found a spot to camp between two lighthouses on the edge of the Humber at Thorngumbald Clough. The two lighthouses replaced the lighthouse in the village (it’s now a private residence) in the late 19th century. Navigating through the Humber is very challenging because the sand banks constantly shift. The two Thorngumbald Clough lights are “leading lights”. One is the low-light and the other is the high-light. When the captain saw the lights of both aligned one over the other he knew that he was in the deep water zone of the Humber. The lighthouses are still operational today.

The view over the river was amazing and I don’t think we could have found a more scenic place to sleep. We used two sticks we found by the beach to put the tarp up and the large rocks on the riverbank were great to tie the cord to. Smashing use of the resources available (mostly thanks to John)! Because we camped in quite high grass and didn’t want to get eaten alive by bugs we hung a mosquito net into the tarp. All snug with a great view and safe from bitey blighters we had dinner and a celebratory sip of whisky.

It was an early start the next morning. I had slept quite lightly but find that when I sleep outdoors I don’t need as much sleep to feel awake. The plan for the day was to visit the gun battery Fort Paull; commissioned by Henry VIII it is now a museum. It didn’t open until 10am though so I had time to watch some Spongebob on my phone and see the Pride of Hull arrive from Rotterdam.

It’s £6 per adult to get in to Fort Paull and it just so happened that we were the first visitors of the day. It is a popular destination for paranormal investigators, served as a training ground during WWII and was the place Charles I retreated to after he was denied access to Hull (a hub of Parliament supporters) during the Civil War in the 17th century. Fort Paull has a lot of underground tunnels and they smell quite damp and could do with some airing. In many of the rooms exhibits with mannequins have been put up. The general theme seemed to be military and Britishness.

Fort Paull

It is also home of the last remaining heavy transport aircraft Blackburn Beverley XB259. You can go in and climb around and the thought of the back hatch opening midflight to drop cargo was not at all appealing to me. Blackburn Beverleys were used by the RAF from 1957 until 1967. The Beverley sits in the middle of a large lawn area next to a brick building and a large plastic dinosaur. The plastic dinosaur marks the entrance of a playground for the kids. They had a blow-up slide! Alas, I am just a wee bit older than 15 so I wasn’t allowed on. Mean...

My favourite random object
we came across.

If you fancy a coffee or tea to sip on the lawn I’d recommend you bring your own. We visited the café and while I’m not normally too squirmish with my food I couldn’t even finish my cup of tea. The jug with yesterday’s milk was poured out in front of our eyes and immediately refilled with UHT milk and the spoons to stir our drinks with were sat in a mug of stale water. The whole place had the same damp smell to it as the underground tunnels and I insisted on sitting outside where the air was more breathable. My imagination provided me with vivid images of the state of the kitchen so we went to a pub in Paull to have lunch instead. After being full of food we felt too lazy to walk back to Hull and caught the bus.

Just walking is a great way of getting to know your surroundings and going to places that you might not normally get to. We had some terrific views along the way and found loads of little visual gems. And despite serving a terrible cup of tea, Fort Paull was a worthwhile experience. Can’t wait to get walking again!

Alive with Art: Gnomes and Poets in Pearson Park

Drawings were pinned to trees.

In light of Hull’s recent bid for City of Culture 2017, the Pearson Park festival Alive with Art took place last Saturday (6th July) and gave local artists an outlet for their talents and visitors a chance to observe and get involved. This day of poetry, painting, drawing, theatre performances, music, dancing, eating and drinking was organised by former The Beautiful South drummer Dave Stead. Food and poetry meant that I had to at least have a peek.

The sun was shining down relentlessly as I set off to find out what cultural gems were to be found. Armed with my camera, I rushed from one shady tree to the next to move across the festival without melting. To get to the action I had to pass a bouncy castle and a train merry-go-round with such a tiny turn radius that the centrifugal forces must have been quite a rush for the kids. Wheeeee!

Yet unmelted, I made it to the first stage. Hiding in the shade of a tent, I listened to Ruth Getz singing 1940s-style songs. It was nice being exposed to 1940s music on a sunny and cheerful day as I normally tend to associate the genre with the claustrophobic and deadly surroundings of Bioshock’s Rapture or that creepy scene from Spaced ♫ How Much is that doggie in the window...♫

Ruth Getz, 1940s songstress

Next stop was the poetry stage. I like to take my time with poetry so I stood and listened for quite a while and it was fantastic. You could easily tell how nervous some people were to put themselves out there and perform their own poems. I’m not sure I’d be brave enough so I have a lot of respect for the people who are. The poems I listened to were lovely and I could have stayed for much longer as I have a weakness for pretty word combinations. But more exploration waited for me...

My figure of eight walk took me to the other side of Pearson Park to a theatre play. I arrived right in the middle of it and for a few minutes tried to figure out if I could get into it and follow the storyline but the sounds of local bands playing under neighbouring gazebos distracted me. I gave up and moved on.

More and more people kept pouring into the park and I got warmer and warmer. I sat under a chestnut tree to cool down until my attention was caught by a creature with a garden gnome head and a child’s body. The girl-gnome stood among several beautifully made papier mâché heads lying on the grass. A closer look showed me that the gnome wasn’t the only oddity: jesters, trolls and other colourful beings came to life and promenaded among the crowd. The masks could be worn by anyone and they were particularly popular with the children.

Only a few metres from the hub of mythical creatures you could try your hand at life drawing. Paper, pen, chair and model were all provided. Unfortunately, my drawing skills still leave a lot to be desired and I didn’t wish to waste any paper with my shabby scribblings.

So instead I settled for watching some talented artists working on their yet unfinished pieces and admired the prints and pictures displayed in one of the tents. It was a lovely place to come and buy some local artwork. I prefer art with a personal touch to the mass produced prints you can buy at Ikea etc.


Some of the arts displayed had their roots in everyday utility. I was mesmerised by Emma making East of the Sun Yarns on her spinning wheel. Seeing these skills being kept alive elates me and makes me want to brush up on my rather limited knitting talents... and buy a spinning wheel and a sheep called Popcorn. I’d call her Poppy for short and we’d live in pastoral bliss!

Yes well anyway, it was great seeing Pearson Park being turned into what was essentially a very diverse art gallery. There was no entrance fee and all performances were in the spirit of art for art’s sake, which was ace. It’d be good to see more of it!

Discovering the English Language in Yorkshire

Accent-wise, I’m definitely a southern girl. At school I was taught to speak RP English also known as the Queen’s English or Oxford English and I kept this up during my time at uni. I can occasionally lapse into regional dialects, drop my T’s and call a glass a “gless” but when asked how to properly pronounce something I will always revert back to RP.

It's incredibly rewarding to be so comfortable with the grammar of a language that all that remains is to add vocabularies and expressions and learn how to use them properly. For me, that’s when learning English became the most fun! This learning process is pretty much infinite and also applies to my first language. There is an inexhaustible supply of words and phrases I have never heard of before. It's quite exciting!

Living in Hull is great for picking up new words. There are a few terms and expressions I’ve come across since I moved to Yorkshire that were either entirely new to me or that suddenly took on a new meaning. I should add that not all of them are exclusive to Hull or Yorkshire!

1. grim 

Urban Decay Doesn't Have to Be Grim

A wonderful word I came across very often when walking through Hull for the first few times. Whenever you wanted to get somewhere nice you had to go through an area that was “a bit grim”. But a little bit of urban decay makes for some lovely photo opportunities!

2. gozzing 
I find saying the word about as satisfying as it is disgusting witnessing someone do it! For those not familiar with it: goz is nasal or oral mucus. So you might be able to guess what "gozzing in the street" means. The first time I heard this word I was watching An Idiot Abroad and it must have made a big impression on me because I still remember it. Gozzzz...

3. “It’s doing me head in.”
Meaning: to confuse, annoy or make somebody unhappy. A few examples of things that do my head in: having to adjust American recipes to British or German measurements, too many hazelnuts and not enough Brazil nuts in my mixed nuts snack and rocket science. I’ve never heard this being said in the South, which is a shame. It is such a lovely expression that includes so many nuances of British melancholy.

4. ‘Ull 
This is how a truly local person pronounces Hull. For you fellow linguists out there, it’s pronounced /ʊl/. I don’t know why, but Hull folk don’t like the letter H. Sesame Street would not be amused. The lack of H can get confusing. One of my non-Hull friends was on her way to visit me. She was waiting for her train when someone approached her asking if this was the platform where the train to Ull stops. I can’t blame her for saying “No” and only figuring out her mistake a few minutes later.  
5. darling/luv/flower 
But it’s not all grim and goz! The train conductors on my way to work think I’m a darling. The random homeless person asking for some change calls me luv and the shop owner greets me with “Ya alright there, flower?” Giving strangers endearing pet names is a thing I came across more in the North and I quite like it. It might not be heartfelt but it’s welcoming!

6. tenfoot
Apparently, a tenfoot is a Hull word and while I roughly understand what it means I am not entirely sure what the difference between a tenfoot and an ordinary path is. The urban dictionary gives these two definitions:

• A footpath running between houses connecting two roads (orig. East Yorkshire). Also known as a 'cut'.
• A ten foot wide passageway located behind houses for access to garages.

What if it is 8 feet wide? Do cars have to be able to access it or are there pedestrian tenfoots? I have yet to find out...

7. minging
This isn’t a particularly northern expression but I first came across it when I was living in Leeds. I think it was used in regard to my cooking... undeservedly so! But what a beautiful all-round insulting yet inoffensive word it is, I just had to include it. I prefer being lazy and slurring it to "mingin’" rather than using the more clearly pronounced "minging". It has more punch.

8.  “Er ner! Whaaht waahn for me.”

Goat Becomes Gert

This isn’t a word but a sound: the seemingly most popular vowel in the Yorkshire vernacular. Think of the “er” in the word “nerd” and apply it whenever you see an “O”. “Oh no!” becomes “Er ner!”, “goat”” becomes “gert” etc. You get the idea. It is particularly Hull when combined with a word containing an “I”-sound such as “wine”. A person with a strong Hull accent will make “wine” sound like “waahn”. The linguist in me can get quite giddy listening to the Hull accent as I try and find the right linguistic patterns. It’s fascinating and probably every linguist’s heaven! However, aesthetics are debatable...

There are so many more words out there waiting to be discovered. If anyone knows any great ones (hint: I particularly like onomatopoeias) I'd love to hear them!