Fact 20. Hull was the first place to give mass Polio vaccinations.

Polio is short for poliomyelitis which is spread by nasal and oral transmission and infected feces. The infection spreads to the digestive tract and in 98% of cases there is just a slight viral illness. Sometimes, 1 to 2% of cases, it passes into the blood stream and there it attacks the nervous system. This causes paralysis and in many cases this results in withered limbs and was common to see people with leg irons on to give support whilst walking. Sometimes the paralysis affected the lungs and chest and the patient could die if not assisted in their breathing. This is where the 'iron lung' came in.

Iron lungs in use in Boston USA in 1955.

In 1955 a Doctor Salk had developed a vaccination that injected a dead virus. This required several re-vaccinations to give good protection. By 1961 Doctor Sabin had developed a live vaccine that could be given orally but this wasn't taken up on a large scale due to worries of using a live virus vaccine. In the UK the problem was 30,000 disabled between 1947 and 1958.

In September 1961 an explosive outbreak of Polio hit Hull. It was thought at the time that it may have come via the city's docks. by 6th September there were 21 suspected cases and the injected vaccine did not seem to be holding the line. The Council Medical Officer for Health Dr. Alexander Hutchison contacted the government Ministry of Health to seek permission to use the new Sabin oral vaccine to stem the outbreak. By 12th October permission had been granted by which time there were 23 confirmed cases and 42 suspected. They gave them selves 5 days to set everything up and there were 300 volunteers to help.

Dr A. Hutchison with a new batch of the vaccine at William Wright Dock cold store with Mr F. Kilburn and Councillors Hobden and Shepherd.

The vaccination centres were set up in 40 schools and 11 other places such as clinics, church halls hospitals and Hammond's Department Store. They all worked very quickly and were ready a day ahead of schedule and all was ready to open at 1700 on the fourth day. This news was broadcast and sent out in the Hull Daily Mail and there were queues formed by early afternoon.

Queues outside Hammond's Department store October 1961.

The vaccination was given by putting two drops of the vaccine on a sugar lump or in a teaspoon of syrup for infants. The sugar lumps were provided free by Tate and Lyle. The campaign was a great success and in two weeks 358,000 were given the vaccination. That is 55,000 more than the population of the city at the time.

This was the first time that the Sabin vaccine had been used in Western Europe for a mass vaccination to halt an outbreak. The success of the vaccine could not be statistically tested as the coverage of the vaccination was so good there was no appreciable sample that hadn't been vaccinated. The 'epidemic' had passed after two weeks leaving 85 having suffered the results of polio. This use of the oral vaccination led to the use through out the country and has almost eliminated polio today in the UK. Hull leading the way for the rest of the Nation.

Fact 19. Hull City, Kings of Europe!

Hull City were founded in 1904 but not early enough to register with the Football league so they only played friendlies for their first season. They entered the 2nd Division league structure in 1905/06 with teams such as Manchester United, Chelsea, Barnsley and Bradford City. They ended up 5th in their first season.

The newly formed club players.

Hull City and Grimsby Town were the only two clubs in the Leagues that were allowed to play matches on Christmas Day due to the needs of their fishing fleets. This stopped in 1970's as the industry
declined.

Very busy Fish Dock in Hull.

They remained in Div. 2 until after WWI when they were relegated to Div III. In 1930 they had a great cup run beating the eventual 2nd Div. Champions Blackpool and 3rd Div. Champions Plymouth Argyle then Manchester City and Newcastle United after a replay played at home where they won 1-0. In the semi final who should they meet but Arsenal. I am writing this the day after Hull City's heroic defeat in the FA Cup final to Arsenal 3-2! They played the first game at Elland Road, Leeds, and drew 2-2. The replay was in Birmingham and Hull lost 1-0.

Hull City 1930 squad.

Hull City's fortunes did not blossom in the after WWII years and the clubs European record was not good, or actually almost none existent! In fact in 1997/98 season they were two places from the bottom of the whole footbal leagues almost in Non League football and so had the distinction of being the largest city in Europe that had never played in their top tier national league.

How ever in the mid 1950's Hull City stunned the national and international sporting press by a magnificent victory in Europe.

Vasas was the leading Hungarian Club and this was in the days before the Communist take over and the era of Hungary's defeat of England 6-3 with Puskas being a world star. Vasas had a pre-season tour for 25 years where they went to various countries and played the top clubs there. This year they were coming to England to play Tottenham Hotspurs, Sheffield Wednesday and Wolverhampton Wanders the top teams of the time. They scored 7 goals against Spurs and 6 past Wednesday. Wolves, who had at the time never been beaten by a Continental club and with a huge list of injuries cried off. Hull City, at the bottom of Division 2 said they would take the fixture on. There was much mocking in the press of the time but the main secret was that Hull City was one of the few clubs with floodlights at the time and this was a requirement to ensure the gate was big enough to meet the costs. The Vasas management visited the city and the ground and declared the match on. Nobody gave The Tigers a chance and at the end of the match the score was 3-0. To Hull City!! If they had been beaten by that score they would have done well but to beat Vasas by any score was a massive achievement. 13889 witnessed it so it must be true.

Vasas 1955.

Well Hull City have survived in the Premier League this season and really acquitted themselves well in their 3-2 defeat. However even their defeat means that they will be competing in the Europa League next season. I think that those Continental clubs need not snigger when they draw City but just remember that history has a habit of repeating itself, and Hull is  now definitely on the map. Hull City, or Tigers, what ever you call them, they have done the city proud.

Curtis Davis, Captain of Hull City, celebrates after he scores to put them 2-0 up against Arsenal in the final. It just wasn't to be though.

The above photographs reveal the changes in sartorial elegance in football however they pictures seem to have evaded the eras of short shorts and long hair.

Fact 18. There is one of the Seven Seas on High Street.

By the end of the 19th Century Hull had become the largest seed crushing area in the country. The business was undertaken by brokers travelling about office to office that was inefficient and time consuming. It was decided that an exchange was needed for the improvement of business. A commission was given to B.S. Jacobs of Bowl Alley Lane, Hull. The building was Renaissance Revival style with Tudor style mullioned windows and a mahogany paneled entrance hall and trading floor. At the gable top is the Hull City emblem of three crowns and above the lower left window is a date of 1899. However the building was not open for trading until 1901. The 1899 could well be from when the Pacific Club was formed. I think the traders had to belong the club to make use of the trading floor.

Facade on High Street of the Pacific Exchange and Club.

The front section and entrance hall were completed first and it wasn't until 1909 that the building was extended through to the River Hull at the back. In the end the building contained trading hall, corn trade riverside board room, four floors of kitchens, offices, toilets and stores.

The Exchange was called the Pacific it seems purely because London had the Baltic and Liverpool had the Atlantic Exchanges! Millers, seed crushers, merchants and brokers packed the trading floor, up to a hundred at a time. Traders on the floor wore their hats and none traders had to remove them. When telephones were introduced offers would come from London to 15 trunk phone boxes on one wall along with two others for local calls.

The trading floor when the building was owned by the Police and Crime Commissioners in Hull.

In WWII the Ministry of Food took over the trading and movement of food and also for nine years after as rationing persisted. Afterwards it was used by the merchants and traders as a luncheon club. By the late 1970's it was sold and became a variety of clubs. It also became a sports/squash club with the court on the trading floor. In 1993 it was Grade II listed. It then became the Humberside Police Authority Headquarters which then  changed to the Police and Crime Commissioners. Recently it has been up for sale. The Hull City Council have recently bought the building for £368000 and to fit it out as offices. The building is usually open to the public when Hull has the Heritage Open Days which are usually in September.

Fact 17. Hymers College nearly didn't get built due to a technicality.

John Hymers was born on Ormesby in North Yorkshire in 1803. He went to local school and then Sedburgh and then Cambridge University where he came out a mathematicians. After graduating he became a very conscientious tutor and also wrote mathematics text books. He became a deacon in 1833 and was elected to the Royal Society 1838. In 1852 he was introduced to the Rectory of Brandsburton in East Yorkshire. He remained unmarried and was the rector of Brandsburton for 35 years until his death. 

John Hymers 1803 - 1877

When he died he left a bequest in his will to the Mayor and Corporation "for the training of intelligence in whatever social rank of life it may be found among the vast and varied population of the Town." Unfortunately some part of the will had a fault in the wording so the bequest became invalid. Luckily his brother decided that he would try to honour his brothers wishes and raised £50,000 to establish a school.

The school was built on the site of the Botanic Gardens that had moved there in 1877 from their site in Linnaeus Street where it had been founded long before any public park in Hull. The gardens finally closed in 1889. The winning bid to construct the school was won by local builders Houlton's and was their first big contract. There bid was for £11500 which was £3 and £4 above the second and third placed bids. The school was supposed to have been finished for January 1891 but two severe winters caused massive delays along with strikes by stone masons and bricklayers. An extension was granted and the the school building eventually opened in 1893 as a school for boys.

Original Hymers School.

The first Head Master was Mr. Charles Gore and from the beginning there were bursaries and scholarships for those that couldn't afford the fees. In 1946 the school became a direct grant school and many pupils were paid for by the Government. In 1971 the direct grant system ended and the governors decided not to become a comprehensive school but went down the route of becoming an independent school, as it is today. At this time the Government paid for 25 pupils. This fund was scrapped in 1997 and the school again has bursaries and scholarships available.

The original school is extended.

Hymers School between the Wars.

Girls were admitted in 1970's and 1980's and the College became fully coeducational in 1988. In 1990's the school had 1600 pupils.

The school has had many additions to the buildings. The most recent being a new theatre.

The school has the best results in the Hull area and has a very good reputation for rugby and music. It also has a Masonic Lodge.

Some of the famous people educated at the school was John Fancy who was one of the first pilots to be captured in WWII. He was captured in May 1940. He escaped sixteen time and dug eight tunnels. He got as far as being in a boat off the Baltic coast before recapture once. He finally arrived back in the UK in April 1945 after a flight that should have taken four hours!

Other known people from Hymers College are three rugby players, Tom Biggs, Tom Whittaker and Rob Vickerman, Simon Hoggart a well known journalist who has just recently died, Damian Johnson sports broadcaster and professional swimmers, tennis players, footballers actors and other writers/journalists.

My Dad went to Hymers but didn't distinguish himself as he failed his school certificate as he only managed 2% in his French examination!

Fact 16. Television's Lord Peter Wimsey was born in Hull.

Ian Carmichael was born in Hull in June 1920. His father was an optician and was partner in a shop on George Street in Hull that sold jewelry, glass and china wares that started in 1902. The shop branched out into other high quality items and became known as the 'Harrods of Hull'. It remained in the family until it was bought by Woolworth's in 1962. It was later bought from them by the Manager and accountant in 1989 to become a high status shop. Unfortunately the financial timing was bad and they closed down in 1991.

Carmichael's Store on George Street, Hull.

Ian went to school at Scarborough College and hated it. He later went to Bromsgrove School which he liked a little better. His family reluctantly paid for him to attend RADA and he made his stage debut as a robot in 1939 at the People's Palace at Mile End. WWII intervened and he joined the Royal Armoured Corp and saw service in Normandy. He lost the end of a finger when a Valentine tank hatch dropped on him. By the time he left the Army in 1947 he had attained the rank of Major.

Ian Carmichael.

Carmichael appeared in many films after the war such as Betrayal with Clark Gable in 1954 and the Colditz Story 1955. He made many Boulting Bros. films with Peter Sellers and Terry Thomas such as Privates Progress 1956, Brothers in Arms 1957 and I'm All Right Jack 1959.

In the 1960's and 70's he moved into television and was successful with roles as P.G. Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster and  Dorothy L. Sawyers Lord Peter Wimsey. He wrote his autobiography 'Will the Real Ian Carmichael...' in 1979.

Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter Wimsey.

Ian Carmichael as Bertie Wooster.

Carmichael also appeared in Wives and Daughters, Heartbeat and The Royal until a year before his death.

Ian Carmichael receiving his OBE given in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in 2003.

He died at his home in the Esk Valley in North Yorkshire. He was married for forty years to his first wife who died in 1983 Jean Maclean. They had two daughters Lee and Sally. He married his second wife Kate Fenton, an English novelist and radio producer. He died of natural causes at age 89 in February 2010.

Fact 15. Hull is famous for the 'pattie' and Bob Carvers chip shop.

Hull is home to Bob Carver Fish and Chip shop that started business over 125 years ago in 1888. This is the third Generation in the business and they have all been Bob. There are two further Bob's to come too. The business started with a stall at Hull's open market. It was a temporary stall that used coke stoves and had trestles and benches for the eating, with table cloths. It was a big tent as there were twenty waitresses! They moved from the market to their current location on Trinity House Lane. Since the business started they have been producing the 'pattie'. This is a made of mashed potato, sage and onion and usually deep fried. Bod Carver's how ever coat theirs in bread crumbs before frying. They don't seem to be sold any many other places and are often mistaken for fish cakes but there is definitely no fish in them. Carver's make them by hand.

Trinity House Lane shop with restaurant above.

Carver's have had a stall at the massive annual travelling Hull Fair in October since the the start of the 19th Century. They have occupied the same site on Walton Street since 1947. Since that time they do not produce fish at all at the Fair as they still use the four coke fires for the frying and they just could not keep up with the demand. It is just chips, pattie and mushy peas in any combination. They sell well over 2000 patties a day at the fair.

Carver's at the fair.

It takes about 12 or 14 hours to set up the stall. The coke fires are started using wood and take about 45 mins to get going properly. It is almost an institution that when at the fair you have to pay a visit to Carver's. The ten people working there are kept very busy during the night shift.

Carver's at night at the Fair.

In a recent poll to find Hull's favourite food the Pattie came second with 39% to the Yorkshire Pudding with 45%.

Pattie peas and chips at Hull fair.

If you have never tried a pattie it is something that is authentic Hull food. Try asking for them anywhere else in the country and nobody knows what you are talking about. Try telling them they are fish cakes with no fish!

Fact 14. Hull is home to God's House..

There had been a a religious house to the north of the walls of Hull since the time of Edward I (Late 13th Century). In the 14th Century the land belonged to William De La Pole and he built a hospital there around 1350, and its name was Maison Dieu, God's House. De La Pole got a licence from the Pope to build a monastry but died before it was completed. His son Michael completed it in 1377 and it was dedicated to St Michael and housed monks for the Carthusian Order.

Despite doing well with an income £230 it was not dissolved by Henry VIII in 1535, only to fall prey in 1538. The priory was destroyed but the hospital survived as it was already held by the crown due to supposed misdeeds of Edmund De La Pole who had a claim to the throne of Henry VII and tried to bring help from abroad. The hospital was given back to the Hull Corporation in 1553. It became known as the Charterhouse after the Priory.

These buildings were pulled down before the first siege of Hull, in 1642, during the English Civil War and the area used as a battery of two guns to protect the city walls. The inmates moved to Whitefriar Gate with in the walls of the town. The place was rebuilt in 1645 at a cost of £474 and further cells and rooms added in 1663 and 1673. In 1780 the complex was again rebuilt and the current buildings are from these times. It was extended further in 1803.

The Charterhouse from 1780.

The Master's House also from 1780. This buildings are said to have parts of the 1600's buildings incorporated within.

The Charterhouse was damaged on the first raid of the war in Hull and wasn't repaired until 1950.

The Hull poet Andrew Marvel was brought up here as his Father was the Master of the School here.

The 18th Century Chapel within the Charterhouse.

Detail below the entrance porch.

The Charterhose still serves as Alms houses providing accommodation for up to 40 people in one or two bedroom flats, half on the ground floor. Rent is a very reasonable £64/74.

The accommodation at Charthouse.

The Charterhouse is in a very quiet area of the city that is a short walk away from the city centre and is well worth a visit.