The Pride of Hull
Back in August I thought it would be fun to visit my friend Monique in Amsterdam and instead of flying travel the slow way by train and ferry and coach. The P&O Ferries Company sells “Minicruises at mini prices“. Several fellow passengers were just sailing over for the day. But I decided to book the one night version which included two nights on the ferry and a night (you can arrange this yourself, as I did, or P&O will do the honours for you) in Amsterdam.
But only for an hour!
However, with help from the enthusiastic team of volunteers I managed to fill the hour between 3.30pm and 4.30pm last Sunday without leaving Hull Paragon Station (as we knew it in my student days in the 1970s).
The City has had a changing programme of events throughout the year and I was lucky to catch a day full back in August.
Our first port of call of arrival in Hull was the newly reopened and freshly renovated Ferens Art Gallery. After coffee we visited each gallery but no photography is allowed. There’s a very good permanent collection for a provincial gallery, the Freud, Mueck, Tunick SKIN show had us mesmerised (I’d seen Muick’s Wild Man at Belsay Hall in 2010 as part of the Extraordinary Measures show) and my favourite display was Rembrandt’s The Shipbuilder and his Wife and related paintings. The Rembrandt lent by Her Majesty The Queen. Masterpieces from the Royal Collection will see five exceptional works of art travel from Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace between 2017 and 2021 as part of a five-year partnership between the Royal Collection Trust and Ferens Art Gallery. I hope I am able to revisit during this time to see more.
New eyes each year
Find old books here,
And new books,too,
Old eyes renew;
So youth and age
Like ink and page
In this house join,
Minting new coin.
