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City of Kingston upon Hull
City centre, Kingston upon Hull
Crest
Hull shown within England
The unitary authorities of the Ceremonial East Riding. 1. East Riding of Yorkshire (Unitary) 2. Kingston upon Hull (Unitary)
Coordinates: 53°43′N 0°20′W / 53.717, -0.333
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Ceremonial county	East Riding of Yorkshire
Admin HQ	Kingston upon Hull
Founded	12th Century
City Status	1897
Government
- Type	Unitary authority, City
- Governing body	Hull City Council
- Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
- Executive:	Liberal Democrat
- MPs:	Alan Johnson (L) Diana Johnson (L) John Prescott (L)
Area
- Total	27.6 sq mi (71.45 km²)
Population (2005 est / Urban 2006)
- Total	256,200 (Ranked 33rd)
- Density	9,028.7/sq mi (3,486/km²)
- Ethnicity (2001 Census)	97.7% White
Time zone	Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0)
Postcode Area	HU
Area code(s)	(01482)
ISO 3166-2	GB-KHL
ONS code	00FA
Website: www.hull.gov.uk

Kingston upon Hull (pronunciation (help·info)), often shortened to Hull, is a city and unitary authority surrounded by the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.^[1] It is located on the north bank of the Humber estuary, near England's east coast 25 miles (40 km) from the North Sea, on both sides of the River Hull at its junction with the Humber.^[1]

During the 700 years of its existence, the town and city of Hull has served as market town,^[2] military supply port and staging area,^[3] trading hub,^[4] fishing and whaling centre,^[3] and industrial giant.^[3] Hull was an early theatre of battle in the English Civil Wars,^[4] and was the backdrop to events leading to the abolition of the slave trade in Britain.^[5] After suffering heavy damage during the Second World War,^[4] Hull weathered a period of post-industrial decline;^[6] however, the city has recently embarked on a programme of regeneration and renewal.^[7]

Contents 1 History 2 Geography 3 Governance 4 Economy 4.1 Industry 4.2 Shopping 4.3 Statistics 5 Demography 6 Education 6.1 Universities 6.2 Schools 7 Religion 8 Transport and infrastructure 9 Telephone system 10 Policing 11 Culture 11.1 Museums and art 11.2 Literature 11.3 Theatre 11.4 Music 11.4.1 Classical music 11.4.2 Popular music 11.5 Nightlife 11.6 Festivals 12 Sport 13 Media 14 Accent 15 Reputation 16 Regeneration 17 People associated with Kingston upon Hull 18 Twinned cities 19 References 20 External links

People have settled the area since at least the 12th century, with the founding between 1150 and 1179 of the Meaux Abbey.^[8] East of the future site of Hull, William le Gros, Earl of Albemarle, founded the settlement of Hedon as a port at the point where the navigable Hedon Haven waterway enters the Humber.^[2] Hedon grew rapidly, and Henry II granted the town a charter in 1160.^[2] However, the need for larger vessels led to the development of land at the confluence of the river Hull (which, with a deeper draft than the Hedon Haven, could accommodate larger vessels) and the Humber as a port at the site of a village named Wyke.^[2] Wyke, or Wyke-upon-Hull, was granted in 1293 the right to hold a market and fair by an agreement between Edward I and the Abbot of Meaux. Wyke also had its harbour improved and was made a manor and a free borough.^[9]

The year 1293 also saw the location become strategically important to the English in their conflicts with the Scottish. Edward I selected Wyke as a site from which to supply his troops as they engaged their northern foes^[3] because of its secure and well-developed port facilities.^[10] The king granted a royal charter, dated April 1, 1299, that renamed the settlement to King's town upon Hull, or Kingston upon Hull. The charter remains preserved in the archives of the city's Guildhall.^[4]

In 1440, a new charter incorporated the town and instituted local government consisting of a mayor, a sheriff, and twelve aldermen.^[4] The charter specified that the aldermen also be justices of the peace for the town and its county.^[4]

Hull's importance as a port increased greatly during the later Middle Ages, with trade contacts in the north of Germany, in the Baltics, and in the Low Countries.^[4] Exports included such garment-making materials as wool, cloth, and hides. The town imported such items as timber, wine, furs, and dyes.^[4] Sir William de la Pole was the town's first mayor.^[11] A prosperous merchant, de la Pole founded a family prominent in government.^[4] Another successful son of a trading family was bishop John Alcock, who founded Jesus College and was a patron of the grammar school in Hull.^[4] The increase in trade might have had an unfortunate consequence, however: the town's maritime connections are theorised to have played a part in the introduction of a virulent strain of syphilis into Europe from the New World.^[12]

The town prospered during the 16th and early 17th centuries.^[4] The memory of Hull's affluence at this time is preserved in the form of several well-maintained buildings from the period, including Wilberforce House, now a museum documenting the life of William Wilberforce.^[4]

In 1642, Hull's governor, Sir John Hotham, declared support for Parliament and denied Charles I entry into the town; this action deprived the king of the weapons in Hull's sizeable arsenal.^[4] Named a traitor, Hotham was eventually executed, in spite of a pardon issued by Parliament.^[4] Ironically, Parliament carried out the execution when Hotham attempted to switch his loyalty.^[4] These were among the first events in the English Civil War. Charles I responded to these events by besieging the town.^[4] This siege helped precipitate open conflict between the forces of Parliament and those of the Royalists.^[4]

Whaling played a major role in the town's fortunes until the mid-19th century.^[4] Hull's prosperity peaked in the decades just before the First World War; it was during this time that city status was granted in 1897.^[3] After the decline of the whaling industry, emphasis shifted to deep sea fishing until the Anglo-Icelandic Cod War of 1975–1976. The conditions set at the war's end initiated Hull's economic decline.^[4] However, the city's role as a major port remains, with mainly bulk commodities shipped and commercial road traffic transported by RORO ferry to and from the Dutch ports of Rotterdam and Zeebrugge to Europe.^[4] Hull also retains importance as a centre of food-processing for the United Kingdom.^[4]

The city's port and industrial facilities, coupled with its proximity to Europe, led to extremely widespread damage by bombing raids during the Second World War; much of the city centre was completely destroyed.^[4] Research indicates that Hull was the most severely-bombed city or town apart from London during World War II, with 95% of houses being damaged or destroyed.^[13] Of a population of approximately 320,000 at the beginning of World War II, approximately 192,000 were made homeless as a result of bomb destruction or damage. The worst of the bombing occurred during 1941. Little was known about this destruction by the rest of the country at the time since most of the radio and newspaper reports did not reveal Hull by name but referred to it as a "North-East" town or "northern coastal town".^[14] 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.^[4]

Hull was hit particularly hard by the June 2007 United Kingdom floods, with the local topography resulting in standing water over a wide area affecting 20% of the city's housing and damaging 90 out of its 105 schools. Despite this, the city was largely overlooked by the media, which favoured the more dramatic but localised flooding in Sheffield and Doncaster, leading council leader Carl Minns to declare Hull the "forgotten city" of the floods.^[15] Damage to schools alone has been estimated at £100 million.^[16]

Kingston upon Hull is near the east coast of the United Kingdom, on the northern bank of the Humber estuary.^[1] The city centre is close to the Humber.^[1] The city is surrounded by the rural East Riding of Yorkshire, isolating it from the rest of the United Kingdom.^[17]

Much of Hull lies on reclaimed land at or below sea level. The Hull Tidal Surge Barrier is at the point where the River Hull joins the Humber Estuary and is lowered at times when unusually high tides are expected. It is used between 8 and 12 times per year and protects approximately 10,000 people from flooding.^[18] Due to its low level, Hull is expected to be at increasing levels of risk from flooding due to global warming.^[19]

The boundaries of the city are tightly drawn and exclude many of the metropolitan area's nearby villages, of which Cottingham is the largest.^[20]

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.

The governing body of the city is now Hull City Council, headquartered in the Guildhall in the city centre.^[21] The council has several subcomponents with differing responsibilities:

• Cabinet: The Cabinet makes most day-to-day decisions. It consists of the council leader, council deputy leader, and eight other councillors (called Portfolio Holders), all elected by the full council.^[22]
• Cabinet Committees: The Cabinet appoints councillors to Cabinet Committees to handle specific responsibilities, such as granting of contracts above a certain monetary value.^[22]
• Task Groups: The Cabinet can form temporary units called Task Groups, usually to deal with specific issues. These can contain members from outside the council, such as persons expert in the issue or members of the public.^[22]
• Area Committees: These committees are responsible for different geographic areas of the city. They advise the Council and perform certain duties assigned. The Area Committees hold public area forums, in which citizens can participate directly.^[22]
• Regulatory Committees: Required by law or by the nature of the function for which they are responsible. These functions include planning, licensing, standards, school government, and civic affairs.^[22]
• Overview and Scrutiny Committees: Designed to allow citizens greater say in council oversight, these committees hold public hearings into issues of local concern.^[22]

The council was designated as the UK's worst performing authority in both 2004 and 2005, but is now rated as a two star improving adequate council after its recent corporate performance assessment.^[23][24] The Liberal Democrats won overall control of the City Council in the 2007 local elections, ending several years where no single party had a majority.^[25]

Hull is a very busy port, with 18.5% of UK imports and 15% of the UK's seaborne trade passing through in 2004.^[26] Several well-known British industrial firms, such as BP, Smith & Nephew, Seven Seas, and Reckitt Benckiser, have facilities in Hull.^[27]

There are three large shopping centres in Hull - the Prospect Centre, Prince's Quay and St. Stephen's, the latter of which opened on 20 September 2007 and is home to several large stores including Zara, H&M, Next, Jane Norman, and Topshop.^[28] Princes Quay, built on stilts in the former Prince's Dock, is also due for redevelopment in the near future.^[29] The Quay West development, due for completion in 2010, will see Prince's Quay extended with another 60 shops and two new department stores (John Lewis and Debenhams are tipped to lease these) and other leisure facilities. There is also a new Vue cinema due for completion autumn 2007. The indoor Trinity Market features around fifty stalls and is situated next to the city's Holy Trinity Church and the historic Hepworth's Arcade. Shops in Hull took £484m ($991m) between April 2006 and 2007, a rise of £13m over the previous 12 month period.^[30]

Below is a table of trends of regional gross value added for Hull at current basic prices.^[31]

Year	Regional Gross Value Added (millions of GB₤)1	Agriculture2	Industry3	Services4
1995	2,748	5	1,014	1,729
2000	3,231	3	1,205	2,023
2003	3,711	6	1,406	2,299

¹ Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
² includes hunting and forestry
³ includes energy and construction
⁴ includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured

According to the 2001 UK census, Hull had a population of 243,589, a decline of 7.5% since the 1991 UK census.^[32] The population figure has subsequently been re-estimated to 249,100 as of July 2005.^[33] In 2001 approximately 53,000 were aged under 16, 174,000 were aged 16–74, and 17,000 aged 75 and over.^[32] The 2001 census shows that the population is 97.7% white and that 97% were born in the United Kingdom.^[32] The city is 71.7% Christian with 18% of the population indicating they were of no religion while 8.4% did not specify an religious affiliation.^[32]

Kingston upon Hull is home to the University of Hull, founded in 1927 and received its Royal Charter in 1954, which has a student population of 16,000.^[34] Associated with the university is the Hull York Medical School (HYMS), which took its first intake of students in 2003 as a part of the British government's attempts to train more doctors.^[35]

The University of Lincoln grew out of the University of Humberside, a former polytechnic which was based in Hull. Through the 1990s the focus of the institution moved to nearby Lincoln, where the administrative headquarters and management moved to in 2001.^[36] The University of Lincoln retains a small campus in Hull city centre.^[37]

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Hull has over 100 local schools; of these, Hull City Council lists 14 secondary schools and 71 primary schools.^[38] Schools independent of the city council include Hymers College^[39] and Hull Collegiate School, the latter formed by the joining of Hull Grammar School and Hull High School.^[40] There is a large further education college, Hull College,^[41] and two large sixth form colleges, Wyke College^[42] and Wilberforce College.^[43] Hull Trinity House School has been offering pre-sea training to prospective mariners since 1787.^[44]

Hull has had low examination success rates for many years and was often found near the bottom of government league tables.^[45][46] This, however, is a problem that many large inner-city Local Education Authorities have. In 2006, Hull’s secondary schools’ examination succession rate rocketed by 75% from 28.9% of pupils achieving 5 or more GCSEs with grades of C or higher in 2004 to more than 50%, bringing Hull close to the national average. This was partly due to a major restructuring of Hull's secondary education system, which involved several closures, mergers and the construction of an entirely new school. In common with many other regions, the number of pupils passing five GCSEs dropped when the system was changed to count only those pupils passing English and Maths as part of the five.

In 2003, the city established a Youth Enterprise Partnership to help support enterprising young people. Teams from Hull formed under this partnership (K H Smilers, Avian Enterprise, Tops Off, and Force-7) have reached the National Finals of Young Enterprise, with two teams winning and continuing to the European Finals. The partnership also facilitates events with high-profile speakers during National Enterprise Week, and has established a drop-in facility at the BeSPoKe Centre in Bransholme for young people to learn more about setting up in business. The city has also established the John Cracknell Youth Enterprise Bank to give financial support to qualified individuals.^[47]

Hull is in the Diocese of York and has a Suffragan Bishop. In 2001, the city had the lowest church attendance in the United Kingdom.^[48]

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 when floor area is the measurement for comparison. The church dates back to about 1300^[49] and contains what is widely acknowledged to be some of the finest mediæval brick-work in the country, particularly in the transepts.

There are several seamen's missions and churches based in Hull. The Mission to Seafarers has a centre at West King George Dock.^[50] The St Nikolaj Danish Seamen's Church is located at 104 Osborne Street, Hull and has services (in Danish) every Sunday.^[51]

The main route into and out of Hull by road is the M62 motorway, which is one of the main east-west routes in northern England. It provides a link to the cities of Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds as well as the rest of the country via the UK motorway network. The motorway itself ends some distance from the city; the rest of the way is along the dual carriageway A63. The east-west route forms a small part of the European road route E20.

Hull is close to the Humber Bridge, which provides road links to destinations south of the Humber. The bridge was constructed between 1972 and 1981 and at the time was the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world. It is now fourth in the list.^[52] Prior to construction of the bridge those wishing to cross the Humber could either take a ferry or travel inland as far as Goole.

Public 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. Generally, routes within the city are operated by Stagecoach and those which leave the city are operated by EYMS.

Hull Paragon Interchange, opened on 16 September 2007,^[53] is the city’s new transport hub combining the main bus and rail termini in an integrated complex. It is expected to see 24,000 people passing through the complex each day.^[54] From the railway terminus, services are provided to the rest of the UK, including direct services to London, provided by Hull Trains.

P&O Ferries provide daily overnight ferry services from King George Dock in Hull to Zeebrugge and Rotterdam. Services to Rotterdam are worked by ferries Pride of Rotterdam and Pride of Hull, the largest ferries operating in the United Kingdom.

The nearest airport is in Lincolnshire, Humberside Airport, which mostly provides charter flights and also has four KLM scheduled flights to Amsterdam and Aberdeen each day. Robin Hood Airport in South Yorkshire is within one hour's drive of the city and provides low cost flights to many European destinations.

Hull has the most 20 miles per hour zones and speed bumps in the UK, in an attempt to increase safety in its residential areas.^[55] Every 20–mph speed limit sign in the city displays artwork created by school children.^[56][57]

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Hull is the only city in the UK with its own independent telephone network company, Kingston Communications. Its distinctive cream telephone boxes can be seen across the city. The company was formed in 1902 as a municipal department by the City Council and is a fine example of municipal enterprise. It remains the only locally operated telephone company in the UK, although it is now privatised.^[58] Initially Hull City Council retained a 44.9 per cent interest in the company and used the proceeds from the sale of shares to fund the city's sports venue, the KC Stadium, amongst other things.^[59] On 24 May 2007 they sold their remaining stake in the company for over £107 million.^[60]

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, known as Kingston Interactive TV (Or KiT). As such, Hull has a modern telephone infrastructure. Indeed, as early as the 1950s, Hull had an advanced telecommunication infrastructure. This included cable television and radio, which was installed as default into every new council house (of which there were many), and most private properties in the city. Kingston Communications has significant market power in both the dial-up and ADSL broadband internet market in Hull and the adjoining built-up areas.

Policing in Kingston upon Hull is undertaken by Humberside Police. In October 2006 the force was named (jointly with Northamptonshire Police) as the worst performing police force in the United Kingdom, based on data released from the Home Office.^[61] However, after a year of "major improvements", the Home Office list released in October 2007 shows the force rising several places (although still among the bottom six of 43 forces rated). Humberside Police received ratings of "good" or "fair" in most categories.^[62]

HM Prison Hull is located in the city and is operated by HM Prison Service. It caters for up to 1,000 adult male prisoners.^[63]

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Hull's Museum Quarter consists of Wilberforce House, the Arctic Corsair, the Hull and East Riding Museum, and the Streetlife and Transport Museum.^[64] Other museums and visitor attractions include the Ferens Art Gallery, the Maritime Museum, the Spurn Lightship,^[64] the Yorkshire Water Museum,^[65] and the the Deep, the world's only submarium.^[66] The Fish Trail leads its followers through old and new sections of the city, following a wide variety of sealife engraved in the pavement.^[67]

Hull seems to be particularly attractive to poets - the Australian author Peter Porter has described it as "the most poetic city in England".^[68]

Philip Larkin, arguably the greatest English poet of the mid-20th century, wrote extensively in his poems about Hull. Among poems which contain descriptions of the area are "The Whitsun Weddings", "The Building" (about the Hull Royal Infirmary) and "Here". He also christened the city as "Coventry-by-the-Sea", as he saw many parallels between the two industrial cities.

Scottish-born Douglas Dunn's Terry Street, a portrait of working-class Hull life, is one the outstanding poetry collections of the 1970s.^[69] Dunn was an important mentor to younger Hull poets including Peter Didsbury, Sean O'Brien and others, many of whom appeared in the 1982 Bloodaxe anthology A Rumoured City. Current Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion, lectured at the University of Hull between 1976 and 1980 and Roger McGough studied there. Among the younger poets associated with Hull are Maggie Hannan, David Wheatley and Caitriona O'Reilly.

The city has three main theatres. Hull New Theatre, which opened in 1939, is the largest venue which features musicals, opera, ballet, drama, children's shows and pantomime. The Hull Truck Theatre is a smaller independent theatre, established in 1971, that regularly features plays, notably those written by John Godber. The Hull Truck Theatre will have a new home in the St Stephen's development. The Northern Theatre Company, established in 1975, is also based in the city.

Hull is home to Hull Sinfonietta, the largest professional chamber ensemble in the Humber region,^[70] and the Hull Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the oldest amateur orchestras in the country.^[71] The city is also home to the Hull Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, established in 1952.^[72]

The city is also the home of the Hull Choral Union, the Hull Bach Choir - which specialises in the performance of 17th and 18th century choral music, the Hull Male Voice Choir, the Dagger Lane Operatic Society - a Gilbert & Sullivan society, the Arterian Singers and the Kingston Singers.

In the 1960s, Mick Ronson of the Hull band Rats worked closely with David Bowie and was heavily involved in production of the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.^[73] Robson later went on to record with Lou Reed and Bob Dylan.^[73] There is a Mick Ronson Memorial Stage in Queen's Gardens in Hull.^[74]

In the 1980s, Hull bands such as The Red Guitars, The Housemartins and Everything But the Girl found mainstream success.^[75] Paul Heaton, former member of The Housemartins who then went on to front The Beautiful South.^[76] Another former member of The Housemartins, Norman Cook, now performs as Fatboy Slim.^[77] In 1983, Hull-born Paul Anthony Cook, Stuart Mathewman and Paul Spencer Denman formed the group Sade. In 1984, the singer Helen Adu signed to CBS and the group released the album Diamond Life. The album went Triple Platinum in the UK.^[78] Vocalist and actor Roland Gift ,who formed the Fine Young Cannibals, grew up in Hull.^[79]

The Adelphi is locally known and regarded as the home of live music in the city and has achieved legendary status worldwide, having giving breaks to such bands as The Stone Roses, Radiohead, and Oasis in its 26 years.

Other local music venues remain popular including The Springhead which caters for cover bands and has been recognised nationally as a Live Music Pub of the Year.

Original Live Music Nights to take note of are The Sesh night at the popular Linnet & Lark on Princes Ave and The Sidekicks Lounge at The Lamp on Bev Rd. Both nights support local talent and both are free entry gigs which are well supported with over 200 people attending on a weekly basis. The Ringside on Beverley Road caters for the Punk and Emo crowd and the likes of The Wellington Pub and Tigers Lair host many a fine acoustic nights featuring more local talent.

Up 'n' Coming talent from across the UK is featured at The Welly club through its association with Club NME every Thursday and it sometimes plays host to some star names at its successful Indie Night Yo Yo.

The bigger National bands play either at Hull City Hall, KC Stadium, University Of Hull, or at the Hull Arena.

On the record label front, Pork Recordings started in Hull back in the mid 1990s and has released some fine workings of Fila Brazillia and Mr Beasley amongst others. The Sesh night has released four DIY compilations featuring the cream of Hull's live music scene and there are currently a few labels emerging in the city, including Purple Worm Records and Empire.

Hull has a lively nightlife, attracting people from outlying areas as well as inhabitants of the city. Hull has the concentration of pubs and bars expected of any large city in contemporary Britain. The drinking culture in the city centre tends to step towards late bars. There are lots of popular wine bars and pubs around Hull University and its student accommodation area. In particular, the areas around Newland Avenue and Princes Avenue have seen a rapid explosion in continental style bars and cafes.

In addition, the old town has seen new bars opening, especially in the Lowgate and Market Place area which has become the latest "fashion circuit" for younger drinkers. Older drinkers can often be found in pubs on the east side of Drypool Bridge on weekend evenings. The city's council estates also have large drinking houses which were built at the same time as the estates, mainly by the large brewers that existed in the 1960s and 1970s as well as the now defunct Hull Breweries, later North Country Brewery which at one time had over 200 pubs in the city and surrounding counties.

Another style of pub in the city is the "coaching house", examples of which can be found on the main routes out of town, such as on Holderness, Beverley and Willerby Roads. The Hessle Road area still boasts around half a dozen pubs which would have been frequented by the trawlermen around the St Andrews Dock area in the fishing industry's heyday. Visiting these pubs would give one a taste of what a typical Hull "boozer" would have been like in that bygone era.

The city hosts the The Humber Mouth literature festival every year- the 2007 season features writers such as Will Self, Shami Chakrabarti, Joanne Harris, Raj Persaud, Mike Gayle, Jackie Kay, Jean 'Binta' Breeze, Robin Ince, Dan Rhodes, Steven Hall, Christopher Reid.

The annual Hull Jazz Festival takes place around the Marina area for a week at the beginning of August. This is followed, in early September, by the Sea Fever Festival, an International Sea Shanty Festival.

Early October sees the arrival of Hull Fair which is Europe's largest travelling funfair and takes place on land adjacent to the KC Stadium.

In 2007 the Hull Metalfest began in the Welly Club, it is the second largest UK Metal festival after the Download Festival. It featured Major Label bands hailing from America, Canada and Italy, as well as the UK.

2007 also saw the first Hull comedy festival, which included performers such as Stewart Lee and Russell Howard. It is anticipated that this too will become an annual festival.

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The city has a professional football team playing in the Championship (second tier), Hull City AFC, who play at the Kingston Communications Stadium. The club has never played in the first tier, making Hull Europe's largest city never to have seen top-flight football.^[80]

Hull is something of a rugby league hub, having two teams who play in the Super League. Hull FC, along with Hull City AFC, play at the Kingston Communications Stadium and Hull Kingston Rovers who play at Craven Park. There are also several lower league teams in the city, such as East Hull, West Hull, Hull Dockers and Hull Isberg, who all play in the National Conference League. Rugby union is catered for by Hull Ionians who play at Brantingham 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 who play in the Elite Ice Hockey League.

New to the city is the Hull Hornets American Football Club which acquired full member status of the British American Football League on 5 November 2006 and played in the BAFL Division 2 Central league for 2007.

In mid-2006 Hull was home to the professional wrestling company 1PW, which held the Devils Due event on 27 July in the Gemtec Arena.

The city did have, up until 2006, a Speedway Team, called Hull Vikings. However, they disbanded when they were evicted from Craven Park and ran into considerable financial difficulty. The sport has long and interesting history. Previous to the Second World War meetings were staged at Hull White City. In the early post war years the Hull Angels raced in the National League Division Three at Hedon before closure late summer 1949 saw the team move to Swindon. The sport was revived at The Boulevard and operated for many years with the Hull Vikings featuring World Champions Ivan Mauger, Barry Briggs and Egon Muller at various times. For details of the activities of the Angels and the Vikings compiled by local speedway historian Roger Hulbert look at www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk

Greyhound racing returned to the city in October 2007 with the re-opening of The Boulevard stadium as a venue for the sport.^[81]

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Hull's daily newspaper is the Hull Daily Mail which was named Yorkshire Daily Newspaper of the Year in 2003,^[82] 2004,^[83] 2006^[84] and 2007.^[85] Mail News and Media also has an internet presence, with separate sites for local news, sports and nightlife. Local listings and what's on guides include Tenfoot City Magazine and Sandman Magazine. The BBC has its new Yorkshire and Lincolnshire regional headquarters at Queen's Gardens, from which the regional news programme Look North is broadcast. Radio services come from BBC Radio Humberside, Viking FM, KCFM, Magic 1161, Hull University Union's Jam 1575, and Kingstown Radio, the hospital-based radio station, which all broadcast to the city.

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The local accent is quite distinctive and noticeably different from the rest of the East Riding; however it is still categorised amongst Yorkshire accents. The most notable feature of the accent is the strong I-muatation^[86] in words like goat, which is [gəʊt] in standard English and [goːt] across most of Yorkshire, becomes [gɵːt] ("geuht") in and around parts of Hull, although there is variation across areas and generations. In common with much of England (outside of the far north), another feature is dropping the H from the start of words, for example Hull is more often pronounced 'Ull in the city. The vowel in "Hull" is pronounced the same way as in Standard English, however, and not as the very short /U/ that exists in Lincolnshire.

The rhythm of the accent is more like that of northern Lincolnshire than that of the rural East Riding, which is perhaps due to migration from Lincolnshire to the city during its industrial growth. One feature that it does share with the surrounding rural area is that an /i/ sound in the middle of a word often becomes an /a:/: for example, "five" may sound like "fahve", "time" like "tahme", etc. "Guide" and "guard" for example are therefore homophones.

The vowel sound in words such as burnt, nurse, first is pronounced with an /E:/ sound, as is also heard in Liverpool and in Middlesbrough, yet this sound is very uncommon in most of Yorkshire.The word pairs spur/spare and fur/fair illustrate this.

The generational and/or geographic variation can be heard in word pairs like pork/poke or cork/coke, or hall/hole, which some people pronounce identically while others make a distinction; anyone called "Paul" (for example) soon becomes aware of this.

An amusing postcard is produced mocking the Hull accent. It lists a number of words and phrases as they are spoken (by some) in the city and a 'translation' to the Queen's English. For example, someone in Hull telling you that they had received a fern curl could be telling someone they had received a phone call.

Hull's history is that of a solidly industrial city, with working-class sensibilities. Like many other cities and towns, it has suffered the negative effects of Britain's transition to a post-industrial society. These effects include, among other things, a decaying infrastructure, an obsolete industrial base, and areas of urban blight. These factors contribute to Hull having the second highest level of deprivation in England, after Liverpool.^[6] Hull was named "the worst place to live in Britain" in the Channel 4 programme "The Best and Worst Places to Live in Britain"^[87] and the "second worst place" in 2007,^[88] after being absent from the 2006 list of worst places to live.^[89]

In spite of these issues, many of the city's residents are very proud of Hull, its history, and its traditions, using such terms as "underrated", "thriving", "fantastic", and "wonderful" to describe their home.^[90] Many residents and visitors also credit it for its down-to-earth, working class-attitude and its friendly nature.^[90] The University of Hull boasts a reputation of being one of the friendliest universities in the United Kingdom.^[91]

Hull's national reputation is also reflected by the positive striving of the Council to improve the city's welfare. However, the city has had poor performance in terms of most socioeconomic indicators in comparison with the rest of the UK. Hull City Council was designated as the UK's worst performing authority in both 2004 and 2005, which the Council are trying to improve with its new £200 million St. Stephen's project.

Hull is seen as something of a national oddity: a large city, in the midst of a very rural part of Yorkshire, at the very edge of the nation.^[17] The rest of the East Riding has always looked upon Hull as a very different entity, and government decisions have taken this into account with things such as post codes, telephone networks and other regional groupings.

As with many cities across the country, areas of Hull are undergoing regeneration. These include the St Stephen's and Quay West projects. £300 million Quay West (being built on brownfield land) will provide an open air expansion of the existing Princes Quay shopping centre.

Overlooking the Humber, the new £165m Humber Quays development, now with World Trade Centre status Humber Quays,^[92] is adding new high quality office space to Hull's waterfront. Phase 1 of the project includes two office buildings (one complete, one under construction), and 51 new apartments. Phase 2 will include a new 200 bedroom 4 star hotel, a restaurant, plus more high quality office space.^[93]

The East Bank of the River Hull will see a stunning £100m residential development connected to Hull's old town. The Boom will include over 600 luxury riverside apartments, shops, boutiques, bistro cafés, a 120 bed luxury hotel, plus health and education facilities.^[94]

St. Stephen's is being built on the site of the old bus station and is a 52,000 sq m scheme at a cost of over £160 million. It is anchored by a 24 hour superstore, providing shop units, residential areas, car parking, as well as a new 'transport interchange'. This will include a new bus station and renovated railway station and is said to be the second system in England which integrates railway and bus stations, leisure and shopping facilities under the same roof, after Doncaster's, Frenchagate interchange. This project is aimed to be completed by the end of 2007. Stores leasing area in St Stephens include Zara, Topshop, Oasis, H&M, Next, Jane Norman, and Tesco Extra.^[95]

Most of the notable people associated with the city can be found in the People from Hull and People associated with the University of Hull categories.

Other people associated with the city include:

• John Alderton, actor, grew up in Hull and attended Kingston High School.
• Jon Culshaw, impressionist and comedian, also began his career as a DJ on Hull station Viking FM.
• Paul Heaton, musician, spent most of his life in Hull, and often references this fact in songs with his band The Beautiful South.
• John Godber, playwright, has been Artistic Director of the Hull Truck Theatre Company since 1984.
• Marion Hood, singer, grew up in Hull and performed in music hall there as a girl and young adult.
• JK and Joel, presenters on BBC Radio 1, began their partnership on local radio station Viking FM.
• Ted Lewis, author of Jack's Return Home, later filmed as Get Carter, attended Hull School of Art.
• Andrew Lincoln, actor, spent some time growing up in Hull.
• Lewis Young, writer, artist and musician, spent his time growing up in Hull.
• Mick Ronson, guitarist, most famous for his work with David Bowie, hails from the city of Hull.
• Clive Sullivan, rugby league player, played for both of Hull's rugby league teams. The main road into the city from the Humber Bridge is named after him (Clive Sullivan Way).

Hull has the following sister cities:^[96]

• Freetown, Sierra Leone
• Niigata, Japan
• Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
• Reykjavík, Iceland
• Rotterdam, Netherlands
• Szczecin, Poland

Hull, Massachusetts in the USA is named after this city,^[97] as is Hull, Quebec, which is part of the Canadian national capital region.^[98]