Please tell me about Hull!

[nancy75]

DD is looking at Uni’s & one that offers a course she likes the look of is Hull. We live in London so I’m pretty clueless about what Hull is like (Google is not complementary, but then half the country think London’s a dump so that’s not much to go on!)
Most of the unis she’s looked at so far have been London/SE but we both think it might be good to look further afield (cost of living being an obvious advantage of moving away)
From her point of view she wants somewhere with a bit of life (nightlife in particular but also theatres & shops)
From a mum point of view I want somewhere reasonably safe (keep in mind we live in London so my idea of safe is not a little village!)

Hull is great for students. Cheap is a major plus. There’s been loads of investment since it was UK city of culture a few years ago. Old fruit market area around the marina is good for restaurants, pubs and cafés, there are two theatres, the bonus arena and city hall for big name entertainment. The avenues is a really nice area near the student bit. It has got deprived areas but nothing worse than any other city. Leeds is easily accessible by train.

Weather can be rather windy as it whistles off the North Sea but lower rainfall than some places as it mainly comes from the west and all gets dumped over the Pennines before reaching Hull.

They have “merbile ferns” in Hull nowadays.
😁😁

Have lived here for nearly 20 years. I don't think I've met a single person that came as a student and hated it. I think it is popular as it is a small, friendly, cheap city. The extremes of wealth and poverty are a lot more moderate than bigger cities. And the university itself has a good reputation.

The things that may be off-putting to casual visitors are:
-City centre, especially after 5pm around Victoria square. The national high street problems have hit Hull hard, and the old shopping street of Whitefriargate is now full of boarded up shops, and the nightlife/restaurants are elsewhere (Newland Ave or at the Marina).

-Retail therapy - as above, there aren't many high profile/high quality shops, but Beverley is a 15 minute train ride away and Leeds is an hour by train. Not sure how important that is for students.
-Diversity - this area of the country is predominantly white. I am not aware of a day to day problem with racism, but I am white too so my perspective may not be very informative - plus this area has been a strong Brexity/UKIP area in the past, like many rural areas. Something to ask student/university about if this is a concern for you
-The A63 roadworks - it's a massive investment to upgrade the road through to the port, and well overdue, but it's a bit of a mess while it's happening

I grew up in Hull in the late 50s/60s and couldn't wait to get away, but it's a lot better nowadays. I think the student life there has always been good. I still have friends/family there and enjoy visiting. And it's very affordable, which for students means less debt and/or more money for activities.

It’s a great student city and my friends and family that live there have beautiful homes and can afford to travel when they feel like it. Your money goes so much further. Students thrive there it’s a great uni and uni life.

20 years ago it was brilliant as a student. Visited a few years ago and it looked even better.

I lived in Hull for 24 years after going to the uni as a mature student. I loved it. I was able to buy a property I loved, and worked in the arts sector in jobs I loved for much of my time after graduating. Most things have already been covered in this thread already but I feel the need to confirm that the arts scene is thriving, and that the food - cafes and restaurants - are amazing. While the population does lack the diversity of many other cities, the restaurants/cafes represent a wide number of cuisines. The Avenues area (Newland, Princes etc) is a great place to live and socialize. This is the first thread I've read on here which does Hull justice!

My family are from Hull hardly any of them have a car it's bikes everywhere. There are some grotty bits as there are everywhere. I've walked home from family parties to a hotel in the centre with my mum and kids and felt safe

A mate of mine went to uni in Hull. We all took the piss when she told us, because Hull had a rep back then and we knew nothing. In the end, she had a better time than I did and came out with a good degree that opened a lot of doors for her.

Its big downside would be a relative lack of connectivity to other places, at least compared to more centrally located uni cities like Manchester, Birmingham, Keele, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham etc, and the internationally connected Scottish ones like Edinburgh and Glasgow.

I think it's a good thing when young people go a long way away for uni. It's part of growing up; snapping the apron strings and all that. You can't properly rebel if your dad's twenty minutes down the road offering to put the kettle on.

Hull is a fantastic city with a fantastic Uni.
Theres a couple areas probably stay clear.from, but most of the more student areas are fine. Around the Avenues area seems popular for students, lots of eateries.

It's also a lot more.of a town feel, I think because it's not very high with loads of skyscrapers, very few of the buildings are tall and make you feel small etc. City centre is also easy to navigate, preter.mich based around Victoria Square with spurs running off it to get where you wanna go.

The deep is fantastic. Ferens is amazing. Shopping is great and housing is reasonable.

So, yeah, I love Hull. Walking around the Riverside and over the bridge and around Spurn point. I'd move to Hull tomorrow if someone handed me the cash.

Hull's a fantastic city. There's so much going on, and it's reasonable.
I'm planning to move there when l retire in a couple of years. Currently in West Yorkshire but my best friend has family over in Hull, so l'm going there.
Like anywhere, it has good and bad bits.

They have “merbile ferns” in Hull nowadays.
My first ever boyfriend was a Hull lad. I'd never heard a Yorkshire accent before, besides on tv, and the Hull accent was a mystery to me.
We didn't have merbile ferns back then, though. :D

I love Hull. I live 2 hours further north but visit Hull 5 or 6 times a year because their grass roots music scene easily is as good as places like Brighton and Bristol. Newlands / Princes Avenue are fab places to grab food and drinks and have a real bohemian vibe, the Marina and Humber Street are lovely. I've had some of the best days of my life in Hull, if I had my time again I'd go to uni there in a heartbeat.

As I said earlier, my ds loved being a student there. The fact it isn’t a Russell Group uni has never held him back. He was sad to leave!

I bet they've got sner today as well.

Breadcakes, tenfoots, it's another language

Had a brilliant time here as a student. Everyone lives within 20 minutes walk of campus so friendly community, easy to make friends. Super cheap. And amazing Spiders!!!! Fantastic goth club with dangerously cheap cocktails

I'm so happy to read that Spiders is still going strong. Drink of choice there was a Pink Pudsley. I think it was £1.50. Lush!

I currently go to The University of Hull but don't live there. I will be honest and say if I had my time again I would not choose the Uni. Hull itself is a fantastic city though and we spend a lot of time there as family.

Hull gets a bad rep. Yes, some parts are run down but no worse than other places. The old town and docks are really nice.

TheOtherHotstepper
They had sner yesterday, so l'm reliably informed.
And yes, it is. When l first started seeing my boyfriend (he was my best friend's big brother) l got about one word in three. I'm from the North East and we spent half our time asking each other to repeat ourselves.

I went to uni in Hull many years ago, loved it there.

Err nerr, @TheOtherHotstepper, sner?

LOL that's exactly what DH said when he opened the curtains here this morning.

I have visited Hull a couple of times and I was dreading it. But parts of the city are beautiful! I would say its definitely worth considering.

Also, in Yorkshire they have this thing which I don't think a Londoner will be aware of. When you have fish and chips they'll ask if you want scraps. That is little bits of batter and it is amazing!

Sner on the rerds?