World Book Night was celebrated last night, amongst the nation’s cut stricken libraries.

Hull City Council’s libraries were one of many to organise, the encouragement of sharing books and reading.

Hull’s Central Library coordinated numerous author talks, including the launch of Tom Palmer’s latest book Interchange. Interchange is a rugby novel set in Hull and distinctively written in homage to securing the Rugby League World Cup.

Author Tom Palmer said: “I was thrilled to be asked to write a rugby league story in Hull. I love working in Hull especially with the council’s library service, who are fab. I had lots of help from children in Hull both FC and KR fans and I hope the story we’ve come up with is a good read.”

Despite the worthy jubilation between the nation’s libraries, the coalition’s austerity package continues.

In Hull, the disclosed Leader’s Budget Report 2013-14, titled “Managing The City In Difficult Times”, confirms the closure of Anlaby Park Library and terminating the lease on the library operating from the KC Stadium.

Hull’s old town is thriving with tourist attractions suitable for people of all ages. From old pubs that have tales to tell and new developments such as the Whale Bridge currently being built, you can be sure that when you visit, you will find something to suit you.

The old town is home to plenty of people, students, owners of pubs and cafes, and there is a museum quarter too called the Street Life Museum where you can find many different exhibitions that you will find interesting.

Old Town in Hull is also famous for it’s number of old and vintage pubs that are still to this day running! Ye Olde Black Boy has been dated back to 1724 and hold regular open mic nights every Wednesday, as do the Sail Makers Arms which is also over 800 years old. Both of these pubs can be found on the High Street, which is Hull’s oldest street.

Other pubs around the old town include Durty Nelly’s, The Manchester Arms and Ye Olde White Heart, all within walking distance. The pubs tend to serve real ales and different ciders, that are all reasonably priced.

Pacific Court, student accommodation is based in the center of the High Street, with over 180 rooms available to students studying at Hull university and Hull colleges. The students really enjoy living right in the center of history.

Jessica Casey, a resident living at Pacific Court said: “The old town is a relaxed and beautiful place to be in, its historic cobbled streets and historic buildings alone are reasons why you should want to visit.

“I have loved living here for the past year and I would recommend it to anyone. The general area is close to the modern city centre, and it’s nice to see the contrast and also to see the old town being used and not knocked down and built on.”

Ashleigh Winskill, another resident that lives at Pacific Court said: “I think it’s a really nice town to live in, the narrow streets and the roads all look beautiful. The area is bustling with visitors, however I still find that it’s peaceful and a nice quiet place to live in.”

The old town may be a thing of the past but it is definitely the tourist attraction of the future. There are plenty of places to visit that suit everyone and new developments such as the River Hull Whale Bridge are being buit too and aren’t disrupting the old town’s natural and historic beauty.

Government cuts are affecting many major services such as Social Services, but the latest in the drastic turn of events are the museums and the archaeology service, one of which affected is the famous British Museum.

Archaeologist for the British Museum Peter Mackie told me: “Our bosses have cut most of our professional field agents and are replacing them with less-experienced agents as they cannot afford to pay the professionals.”

Mr Mackie is one of many archaeologists who have been made redundant because the government funded museums cannot afford to pay the high wage that the archaeologists are earning per year.

Mr Mackie has been reduced to writing field reports for digs he has not taken part in, all for a much lower wage. “I have to sit here and examine flint, then do a 2000 word report while less experienced people are doing my job.”

Other archaeologists argue that the less experienced workers may make fatal mistakes during digs that may change the way we look at our heritage.

“Archaeology has to be done right,” amateur archaeologist Simon Marsh sayy. “We only know about our history because of what archaeologists have found out during their digs. If someone says they’ve found something, say a Roman villa, and it isn’t what they think, we’re going to be looking at history all wrong.”

Museums all around Britain are feeling the pressure of the cuts too, including those on the High Street in Hull.

Some museums in the country are shortening their opening hours because they cannot afford to pay the staff, and some are considering raising their entrance fee.

Tourist John Smith said: “Museums have always been known as being free of charge, or having a low entrance fee. You raise the fee and you lose tourism. It’s a known fact.”

Hull is a city that is much maligned by people who don’t actually live there. Often placed pretty highly in the ‘worst places to live’ tables, Hull has gained a somewhat unfair reputation from the rest of the country.

For these people who are ignorant of the prestige our city has, the words ‘Hull’ and ‘culture’ probably shouldn’t be in the same sentence as far as they are concerned. But, as Hull bids to be UK City of Culture 2017, it is clear that the city is rich in history and cultural heritage, and the HyperFruit area can prove to be an important part of the bid.

On May 9, the Arts Council announced the second round of creative people and places grants. Of the 11 places that were granted funding, Hull received the most: £3m. This emphasises the potential that Hull has as a city when it comes to arts and culture. This fund of money will be managed by a consortium of organisations including Artlink, Hull Truck Theatre, Volcom, Hull City Council and Hull and East Yorkshire Community Foundation.

The Fruit Market, once a thriving area of the city, is at the heart of the regeneration plans. Because of its location, the Fruit Market area is of great importance to the bid.

One of the proposals put forward by Hull City Council is to open a Visual Arts Centre in the Fruit Market area, to capitalise on the recent resurgence of creative art in Hull.

Councillor Steven Bayes hopes that the Fruit Market area will play an important role in the bid. He said: “The existing cultural offer provides a solid foundation to build on with Fruit Market’s emerging Arts Quarter, the city’s successful Freedom Festival, and a run of high profile successful exhibitions as part of our arts and heritage offer.”

As Councillor Bayes mentioned there, the Freedom Festival has placed an increasing level of importance on the cultural side of things, so this will again represent a part of the bid.

In recent plans released by Hull City Council, they stated that a development plan of the Fruit Market area, in readiness for the bid, would:

• Provide an opportunity to develop a distinctive and vibrant cultural offer based on the area’s heritage.
• Link with the wider vision of the waterfront – linking to The Deep
• Create private sector investment in jobs in new and emerging cultural/creative industries and tourism.

As far as the overall bid is concerned, two of Hull’s most famous sons, Phillip Larkin and William Wilberforce will undoubtedly play a big part. Also, The Deep – which remains the world’s only submarium – East Park, the KC Stadium, the Hull Truck Theatre are landmarks which Hull can be proud of.

The Hyperfruit area will hopefully become a big part of the bid and, if Hull does become UK City of Culture 2017, maybe the rest of the country will start to realise that its not all that dull in Hull.

Hull has been awarded £3m for the arts as it now looks towards bidding for the title of the UK City of Culture 2017.

The Arts Council has given the award to fund three exciting projects including the Discovery Programme.

Hull is one of 11 councils given the cash under the Creative People and Places banner and has received the highest amount out of all the regional applicants.

A representative from the Arts council said: “We will invest a total of £37m in a small number of locations of greatest need to establish action research partnerships called Creative People and Places.”

The funding will be distributed via a programme to be managed by a consortium of organisations including Artlink, Hull Truck Theatre, Volcom, Hull City Council and Hull and East Yorkshire Community Foundation. The next stage of the process will be to produce and submit a full business plan which should take between three and six months. Once this has been approved by the Arts Council then a range of arts activity can begin.

Hull is also in the process of bidding for the title of UK City of Culture 2017.

Fruit, regarded as Hull’s most exciting entertainment and arts space, has been a major success for the city’s cultural and arts reputation. Producing theatre, live music and cinema to fashion, comedy, art and photography exhibitions. Fruit bosses have said that with their sell-out shows they believe that they can help Hull win the bid and secure the title in 2017.

Club boss Dave Mayes believes that this title could bring more business prospects to the city. Dave said: “The City of Culture bid is not just about bringing people to Hull, it’s about creating jobs. We have done this and a number of people are now working for us as photographers, illustrators and designers.”

It seems as if 2013 could be the year for Hull with the many opportunities in sight for the city.

The Deep is playing host to a series of experiments that could determine whether life existed, or still exists, on Mars.

Professors from the University of Hull alongside colleagues from University of Utrecht in the Netherlands and the Open University are carrying out the scientific work at the famous submarium.

Dr Stuart McLelland is a lecturer in Physical Geography at the University of Hull and specialises in the measurement and physical modelling of flow processes and sediment transport dynamics in river channels. McLelland is responsible for managing research projects undertaken in the Total Environment Simulator (TES), including this current project determining ancient water flow on Mars at The Deep.

The TES is designed to provide a flexible modelling environment that can be configured to simulate a wide variety of environmental conditions. McLelland and his colleagues have recreated a range of possible ancient environmental conditions on Mars using the TES. These conditions have left remnants in the form of deep canyons on Mars and are the features of which NASA’s Curiosity Rover is currently investigating.

Professor McLelland said: “There are recognisable shapes on Mars that are consistent with rivers on Earth. These are several kilometres wide with some being very old and others quite recent.

“We have set up a slope in the flume tank where we force water on a pile of sediment in different ways to figure out how water could have formed on Mars.

“We then look at channel forms on Mars to see which are most similar to those conducted in the experiment to figure out how water could have got there.”

The experiments took six weeks to complete and with funding from the University of Hull and the Dutch government the project can run for another 18 months.

There is worldwide interest in the ongoing experiment at The Deep and with the next 18 months to conduct even more research into the process of water flow on Mars, Hull is at the centre of a possible discovery into whether life existed, or still exists, on the Red Planet.

Evidence of the experiments can be seen through diagrams and picture comparisons of the groundwater outflows here in Hull and the actual water flow look-alikes on Mars by following this link.

Previously a bank, now a Wetherspoon pub, named after MP William Wilberforce who was a crucial figure in the abolition of the slave trade.

The Three John Scotts Wetherspoon pub, named after three vicars to, who successively ran the St Mary’s Church (opposite this pub) in the 19th century.

Cogan House on Bowlalley Lane was built in 1876 by William Botterill for the Hull Exchange Company.

A former merchants workhouse on King Street- now for residential use in the Old Town.

Holy Trinity House was first built in 1457, and re-built in 1753.

The George Hotel, one of the oldest pubs in Hull, also has the smallest window in the world.

Built around the year 1300, the Church of the Holy Trinity is the oldest building in the city of Kingston Upon Hull.

Wilberforce House, the residence of William Wilberforce, was built in the year 1660.

The Commercial Museum on High Street, Hull Old Town.

The Lion and Key pub, 1817.

 The oldest pub in Hull, Ye Olde Black Boy, built in 1729.

An audio exhibition to showcase high-end audio equipment is hoping to hit all the right notes at a local gallery.

Linn Lounge Presents Led Zeppelin will appear at The 1 Gallery on the May 22 and offers visitors the opportunity to “listen to iconic music in the best quality available – on a Linn system in Studio Master”.

The event is part of a European tour of the Linn sound system, with each event playing the music of an iconic musician. Other events are playing the music of The Beatles, REM, John Coltrane and Amy Winehouse.

Linn boast that you “hear each song exactly as it was recorded and discover the incredible legacy of a band that redefined rock with sweat-drenched guitar riffs and manic cymbal crashes”.

The company who retail Linn and are responsible for the event is The Audio Room, who are working alongside The 1 Gallery’s Paul Dennis to make the event happen. A group of their staff will be on hand to guide guests through the range of Linn products available.

Paul Dennis in The 1 Gallery

Mr Dennis said this on how the event came his way, “I have all of this space at The 1 Gallery and I’m always looking for ways to bring the arts to the local people and I was approached by The Audio Room to hold the event.”

He also hopes that this event will allow for growth, not just for the gallery but also for the arts community in Hull. “If the event is a success then we will be looking into making it a regular monthly affair, with the Beatles being the next artist played. The event will also let professionals from different arts to come together and network. This city has a lot of great artists who don’t realise what facilities are out there for them, maybe this event will draw them out to talk.”

The event will also include a live performance by the local band Eskimo Party. Their drummer, Mikey Scott is also the founder and producer at Fruit Trade Music.

Mikey Scott at his mixing desk.

Mikey, 22, said, “I met Paul Dennis at his last Creative 1 networking event and he arranged to come and look around the studio. I played him some of our songs after the tour and offered us the gig there and then.”

After rapidly snapping up the opportunity, Mikey’s mind soon turned to business and the networking opportunities that this event could throw his way.

“I’m going to be walking around everyone plastering the place with business cards saying, this is me. This is who I am. This is what I like and this is what I can do for the local music scene.”

You can discover the true clarity of the Linn sound system for yourself at the event on May 22 at 6pm. Refreshments will also be provided.

One of Hull’s most colourful characters is campaigning to relocate the Arctic Corsair.

Mally Welburn, 51, a former deckhand on the last remaining sidewinder trawler, wants to move the famous ship next to The Deep from its base outside the Streetlife Museum.

But the idea is likely to provoke controversy after The Deep petitioned for the trawler to be situated at the museum in the first place.

For the last 14 years the trawler has been situated at the Streetlife Museum, and is one of the biggest attractions at the museum. So, why move it now?

Mally Welburn said: “I believe it’s out of position. It should be situated 500 meters further at The Deep.

“95 per cent of people who visit The Deep end up getting straight back on the bus and heading home. The Deep is the biggest attraction in Hull, and we need to use it to our advantage.”

The Deep attracts over 400,000 visitors a year and is an ideal tourist attraction for families, couples and the elderly. But wouldn’t refurbishing and moving the Corsair contradict the original values and tradition?

Mally said: “The idea is to update the boat so it’s accessible to everyone, at the moment disabled, elderly people can’t get on the boat in its current state. We want to change this, and make it the biggest experience in Hull.”

The former deckhand wants to restore the boat to its former glory by adding a simulator to create the ultimate tourist attraction.

He said: “The simulator will recreate the experience we had on the boat. It will make it a more fun, easy and laid back experience making the tourists want more.”

There is a much bigger picture to re-inventing the ultimate sidewinder experience. Mally wants to take a trip down memory lane and go back in time and recreate the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

He said: “The 50s, 60s, and 70’ were amazing eras for culture, music and food.

“The Hull fruit market used to be a vibrant exciting area. In recent years this has become abandoned and derelict looking so why not reinvent these eras and get tourism booming in Hull?”

Although the idea of creating the “ultimate experience” seems like a particularly good idea it also looks set to cause controversy. However, Mally plans to continue his battle to move the Corsair and reinvent the fruit market.

Video: Ammie Mcgowan

Humber City – Darkest, Before the Dawn is a new online crime drama that promises action and intrigue at every turn. This is a seedy world of crime, conspiracy, violence, unrest and some rather unsavoury characters.    The title sequence promises much, as the Humber Pilot leaves port, lights flashing against the night sky, the gutsy vessel proudly coursing through the inky black waters of the estuary.

There is something evil lurking on the streets of Humber City – we learn this in the opening scene where a young couple meet by the marina. They discuss the pros and cons of hard work and study, and agree to meet up at a party later that evening. But someone won’t make that party.

Image (c) Parallel Reflections 2013

A seemingly innocent interaction between a father and daughter, will quickly turn nasty, very nasty indeed. It’s clear that the new crime webseries Humber City, intends to explore the darker depths of human experience with a dramatised East Yorkshire city as its playground.

By the closing scene we are on familiar ground, as the camera sets upon the dishevelled figure of DCI James McGavin,  a hard-bitten detective played by John Carrigan (Star Trek Phase II/The Brittas Empire) In a moment he will get that first call that will send him once more into the rain soaked streets, and headlong to the scene of the crime.

Humber City, produced by Hull company Parallel Reflections, is written and directed by Peter  Goundrill, a well-known figure within the local filmmaking scene. He has battled against the odds and is now finally ready to unleash his creation onto the online world.

It will be interesting to see how the online series Humber City develops and whether the city itself, becomes just as important and integral to the narrative, as the characters within it.

What will be crucial to Humber City‘s success or not, will be if it can avoid cliche and not succumb to well worn crime thriller formulae.

If it can achieve the first and steer clear of the latter it could become something of a must watch series.

Humber City – Darkest, Before the Dawn receives its online premiere on April 30 at 8pm on your laptop or mobile device.

Join the Humber City premiere online.