Open for old business part II...

I was on the radio today and, having said on air that I'd call in to and have a poke about the new Hull History Centre, I thought I better be true to my word. So I slipped in through the back door. Where I more-or-less immediately bumped into someone from the city council's press office that I know and, more-or-less immediately after that, bumped into someone from the University of Hull's press office that I know. The latter very kindly gave me a very personalised tour of the facilities, including the upstairs climate and temperature-controlled store rooms that are designated 'out-of-bounds' to the public. As part of the launch several important documents had been put on display, including the city charter that I've met and blogged about on a previous occasion, and, something I've not seen at close quarters, one of Philip Larkin's original notebooks, complete with scribbles and annotations and very spidery, slightly insane handwriting. Smashing and not quite the low-key walk through towards the general direction of my car that I actually had in mind. Seems like a place that will be very 'people friendly' although, as is quite unfathomably the case with all library-type facilities, several of the most peculiar types were already in residence at the microfish. Also amongst the peculiar in attendance were Hull City Council's cabinet members who, also unfathomably, appeared to be holding a meeting on the premises.

Open for old business...

Hull History Centre - the new £10m pound home for the city's archives - opens for business today. So I expect that lots of old folk will be heading there to look at old stuff and will be helped by the rather eccentric but knowledgable folk that staff the place. It's a far cry from where a lot of this old stuff was held, which I blogged about a couple of years ago when I got my hands on the city charter, and I'm looking forward to sticking my nose in, donning white gloves and grappling with some historical documents at the earliest opportunity. Not least because the local paper highlighted at the weekend that, when some of the land upon which this new centre has been constructed was, back in the 19th century, sold by 'the father of football' Ebenezer Cobb Morley, it was to "someone called Windass". "It is not known," the HDM goes on, "if there is any connection to Hull City hero Dean." Nor, for that matter, whether there's any connection to yours truly. I need to know!

Naturally, being a nosy bleeder, I tried to catch a preview as I trotted past the centre the other day. Staff were, understandably, busy popping dozens of bound volumes on shelves, and I attempted to take a photo thru the glass. What I got was something a tad odd but a little interesting. The reflection is of Hull's Central Fire Station and, to the right, a little bit of me.

Oh another week...

Here we go again. Spent much of the weekend heading back in time and watching all of The Thick Of It, including the two hour-long specials (Rise of the Nutters and Spinners and Losers) by the broadcast of which, of course, Chris Langham's hard drive had been well turned over and he wasn't around. Great show, magical one-liners, Tucker one of comedy's great lunatics. M said I shouldn't go on, or she won't get round to watching it.

What else? Oh, yes, sport. Listened to Hull FC's season end, unsurprisingly. What a disappointment this season has been and something of a crime against the club's history, not to mention an insult to the fans. But who am I to complain? Watched Tigers online too - those poor things deserved a draw. We also went out to Hull's Museums Quarter to 'Meet The Tudors', although my suspicions are that they were just contemporary folk wearing costume. There was some Tudor food up for grabs - bananas soaked in some sticky, orangey sauce and some smashingly bitey ginger bread amongst it. Not too much was going on, to be honest, which is just as well as not many people had bothered to turn up to see how little was going on (those two negatives not cancelling each other out. Hull is a place where mediocrity has bred apathy).

Spotted some shiny new things in the city as we strode back to the car along the riverside wharf: Some sculptures, attached to a fence at the back of a former warehouse turned-apartment block car park. I like them. There should be more of this stuff: