More

All right. Let's see more pictures from yesterday's trip to Kingston-upon-Hull - or Hull as it is more commonly called. Not only does it stand on the north shore of the River Humber, it also spans The River Hull. That is a much smaller river that drains south from The Yorkshire Wolds, dividing the city of Hull in half. Sometimes at Hull City matches, a chant goes up..."East Hull Tigers!" with the response following, "West Hull Tigers!" as different Hullensians reveal their territorial loyalties.

Hull is in my bones. It is where I went to school between the ages of eleven and fifteen. It is where I first  saw Jethro Tull and Free and Genesis and The Moody Blues and  Donovan and Nothineverappens - a Hull band that you have probably never heard of. It is where I first fell in love and where I saw my first rugby league games and also became a lifelong fan of  Hull City - a football team I have supported for over sixty years now. And Mum would travel into Hull by public bus sometimes and bring back cream meringues and coconut mushrooms and salted peanuts and new pairs of underpants and Hull was proud and wonderful.

Hull is where my brother Simon died in a hospice and it is where my father was cremated. It is where I was the best man at Lee Dalley's wedding when I was only sixteen and it is where I almost saw The Beatles in concert at the age of twelve... but my parents vetoed the idea. It is where I played rugby for Hull Schoolboys and where I had my front teeth knocked out in a cricket match when I was fourteen.

Yes. Hull is in my bones. That's for sure.

The Emigrants statue on Hull's waterfront with "The Deep" aquarium beyond.

Before yesterday, I realised that I would have a problem taking my backpack into Hull City's home ground - The MKM Stadium. Nowadays, there are strict rules about what you can and  cannot take into a football stadium and the searching of bags has become commonplace.

Philip Larkin again

Unfortunately, there is no longer a left luggage facility at Hull's Paragon Station so where could I leave my bag - containing my camera, my steel water flask, my books and my heroin syringe? After all, I did not want these items to be confiscated.

I stumbled across a website called "Stasher" that provides a useful service across the globe. It lists trusted businesses where you can leave bags securely - from large suitcases to small backpacks. You pay a relatively small fee and then the name and exact address of the business is provided via e-mail. I left my backpack at  the "Upper Cutz" barbershop just a stone's throw from Hull's main railway station and collected it on my way back from the game. The arrangement worked perfectly.

View of Hull Marina from the new footbridge

from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/bY6Erm9