Hull has always been known as a tough town and deservedly so. It was built on fishing, and that’s a tough industry. It meant you’d have a fleet of trawlers that would go out and young men who would never return. So the families had to be tough, and the women had to be tough. Obviously, that industry was decimated in the 1970s and it took years to be rebuilt. So perhaps people think of Hull as a city that has struggled – and it has.
The thing I miss most when I’m not there is the people. If I leave the house to walk into town, I can just stop and chat to people. I miss the sense of community. Nobody’s better than anyone else. People just want a natter.
We’ve got some of the broadest vowels in the country in Hull. They think it’s because we’ve done so much trade with the Dutch. I’ve been to Holland, and people there can understand me better than in Cheltenham.
I was brought up by a single mother. She was learning to be a playwright so I had an incredible childhood. She formed a company of women and did plays in pubs. She would spend time with artists and writers and musicians, so I saw the creative side of the city.
As for my best night out in Hull … There’s too many. I’ve probably ended up not remembering much of it.
When I was a teenager we’d hang out anywhere there was live music. One group, called Turismo, should have gone on and been as big as the Arctic Monkeys, but it didn’t quite happen. Live music is brilliant in Hull. The Adelphi and the Welly Club are iconic. The Adelphi just had its 30th anniversary – Kaiser Chiefs headlined.
Our biggest secret is our chip spice. It’s like this powder and salt you put on chips and it makes them taste amazing. You get it at every takeaway. What’s in it? It’s secret. But it’s incredible. It’s the future. Another local speciality is our patties. They’re like a fish cake, but made with potato and sage. You have a patty and chips if you can’t afford fish. The best place to get one of those is Cave Street Fisheries, or Bob Carver’s in the old town, which is legendary. It’s been there donkey’s years.
Cerutti’s restaurant on the Marina is almost like a Michelin-starred place. Pave, on Princes Ave, is a bar/cafe/comedy venue that has jazz on Sundays, and great food. Newland Avenue – a bit like the Notting Hill or Camden of Hull – has great shops and restaurants.
If you only had time to do one thing in Hull, I’d tell you to walk around the Marina, or the old town. A lot of Hull was bombed during the second world war, but where it wasn’t, it’s beautiful. There are some amazing pubs, such as Ye Olde Black Boy and Ye Olde White Harte (which is where the city fathers plotted to shut the gate against Charles I at the start of the civil war). And round the corner is the George Hotel, with the smallest window in England.
There’s some really rich history. Follow the Fish Trail marked on the ground: it takes you to where William Wilberforce – who abolished slavery – lived, and some wonderful architecture.
The comedy scene in Hull was sort of non-existent a few years ago. Now comedy nights are cropping up all over the place – there are regular nights at City Hall. Fruit is the best thing to come out of Hull in ages. It’s a live arts venue with such a great programme of comedy, good bands, fundraisers and a cinema. It’s an arty place but it engages everybody. It’s in an area of abandoned warehouses that are all getting turned into art galleries and music studios and stuff. It’s a really great place down there.
Hull is a maternal city. It’s all about family – looking after your own and looking after each other. There’s a big heart and humour and imagination. Maybe it’s something about living near the sea. There’s a strong creative impulse, and you hear that in the music as well. You’re gonna see some great things there in the next few years.
It used to feel like Hull was 20 years behind the other major cities. But there’s going to be so much going on in the build up to the City of Culture in 2017. It’s really worth a trip: it’s got so much to offer. I know I’m biased, but it is true.
• Lucy Beaumont’s stand-up show, We Can Twerk It Out, is at London’s Soho Theatre from 19–21 January
