Hull in print

Dear Hull in print,
I would like to say how much I enjoyed reading your article "Our Friends in the North" about the twin statues, one in Hull and one in Iceland (page 13, Hull in print, August, 2006).
I myself visited the statue in Iceland this year. It is located in such a beautiful and remote corner of the world, and is a very fitting tribute to all those who make their living from the sea, and their families.
When I was a young girl, my father worked as a steward on the Melrose Abbey passenger ship, which used to travel between Hull and Rotterdam.
We lived in a prefab on Preston Road, and later on Bilton Grange, and I remember my mother being very happy there.
That was until my father, unbeknown to her, in 1949, gave notice of his job on the ship and took on the licence of the Commercial Hotel in Castle Street (now a multistorey car park).
It was practically next door to Prince's Dock (on which the Princes Quay shopping centre has been built), which was still a working dock then. I remember Boatman Jack coming in to wait to tie up the ships.
My grandfather also worked on a boat - that came to Railway Dock (and the coal hoist), which is now more popularly known as the Marina.
The city centre was a fascinating place and my brother and I used to spend many hours at Wilberforce House and shopping for mother at the wonderful market. I also remember a fire in the banana warehouse, and a truck full of fruit and tomatoes overturning (wow, food for free!).
These are memories which I hold very dear; in particular because I left Hull around 50 years ago.
Coming back after all that time I was amazed at the transformation. I am delighted to see East Park has been revamped and the Khyber Pass and splash-boat are still in place.
I left Hull in 1955, aged around 16, and went to work as a groom at the Holderness Hunt Kennels in Etton, near Beverley. After two years in the RAF, doing my national service, I got married in 1960 and moved to Leeds.
Next we moved to Saltash in Cornwall, and later took a £10 passage to Sydney, Australia, with all the family.
After 16 years living down under, I returned to England with my youngest child and settled in a small village in Sussex, where for several years I managed my own smallholding, which had pigs, chickens and cows.
In 2000, aged 60, I attained my degree in Environmental Science from the University of Brighton - along with my bus pass - and I now work as a volunteer (hoping to keep the mind occupied).
The irony of this is that, when I first came to live in Sussex, I took a job at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. One day an elderly couple came in for lunch and, recognising their accent, I asked where they had lived in Hull. The chap said his father had been the licensee of the Commercial Hotel, leaving in 1949!

Best wishes,
Margaret Allen (nee Jennings)
Brighton
Sussex

Proud of Hull - in Canada

Dear Hull in print,
We really enjoy your magazine and hearing about all the great things that are being done for Hull and its people.
My name is Jean Brady (nee Hartley) and my husband is Alex Brady. We were both raised on Holderness Road and attended St Mary's R.C. School on Wilton Avenue.
We married in 1948, lived for two years in Dansom Lane, then in 1951 we emigrated to Canada, where we raised four children. We now have seven grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
My husband and I often sit and reminisce about our youth in Hull. We used to walk to East Park with a bottle of cold tea and a jam sandwich.
As children, my sister and I, and our friends, would spend the whole day on our own - something you just couldn't do today.
We also remember the many dance halls you had to choose from in Hull, and walking home in the blacked-out streets during the war. I met my husband at a dance in St Columba's church hall in 1941.
During the war, Alex joined the navy and was in the Fleet Air Arm, while I joined the Women's Land Army.
Afterwards, we both worked at Reckitt and Coleman, where Alex was an electrician and I worked in the canteen.
We've had a very good life here in Canada, but we always look forward to our trips back home to Hull.
I have one sister and her husband to visit (Betty and Eric Young and family), and there are literally hundreds of Bradys to visit. Alex is the youngest of nine and the only one living now, but he has a very large extended family of nieces, nephews and 'offspring', both here in Canada and in Hull.
His niece Mary Glew and his nephew Stephen Brady are both city councillors in Hull.
The city just seems to be getting bigger and better all the time and we are proud of it. Thank you.

Yours sincerely,
Jean and Alex Brady
Victoria
Canada


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