We are sailing . (The Hull Maritime Museum)

Member Name: eiley123

Product:	The Hull Maritime Museum
Date:	26/02/07 (234 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free entrance , educational , lovely building , interesting

Disadvantages: As always could be bigger to house more of its collection

HULL CITY COUNCIL MUSEUMS
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The free entrance museums and art gallery in Kingston-Upon-Hull are all maintained, run and funded through the Leisure Services Department of the local council, with additional funding when received. The Maritime Museum until the early seventies was housed in a small museum based at Pickering Park Hull. This was away from the city centre, on the road to a small village called Hessle .

I remember the Pickering Park museum as a child in the fifties. Of course at that time it looked vast but really it was quite compact. In the grounds were huge whalebones; relics of our bygone fishing days, when Hull was a huge port . In the sixties Hull was the third largest port in England. Hard to believe now.

As fishing declined I suppose the powers that be saw the importance of preserving artefacts from that part of Hull's past. How right they were and what a vast store of information the Maritime Museum holds.

THE TOWN DOCKS/MARITIME MUSEUM
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The maritime museum is located in the pedestrianised Victoria Square in Kingston-Upon-Hull, which is on the north bank of the River Humber in East Yorkshire, England. Nearby is the Humber bridge which at one time in the last 30 years was the longest bridge of it's type in the world.

The museum building itself is triangular in shape and the roof at each of it's three corners has a dome. All in all it's quite an impressive building from the outside. It's a beige coloured stone building which, along with the other buildings in Victoria Square, was sandblasted a few years ago to remove decades of grime. It came up a treat .

The building was actually the dock offices when the docks were still nearby. At the back was a dock which is now filled in (the Queens Gardens) and across the road was the Princes Dock (partially visible but over which a large shopping centre has been built) If you have heard or seen any paintings by John Atkinson Grimshaw you may have seen his painting of Princes Dock from 1887. It is typical of his style at the time and shows a very different and atmospheric Hull. I'm 99% sure there is one of the dock offices also.

There is a back entrance to the maritime museum but it is usually closed in winter. I think this was probably the main entrance from the docks many years ago . When these doors are open, weather permitting, you can come out and sit near the flowerbeds and large stone fountain and enjoy an ice-cream or a picnic lunch. Of course you can sit out here any time of year but Hull does have icy winds which blow off the North Sea in winter.

So entering the Museum through what is now the main entrance, via a small stone staircase ,you enter the foyer. Straight in front of you is a central, magnificent marble staircase. Climb this to midway and then it splits to the left and a right hand side. The foyer is high and very light, and airy .The small landing before the stairs separate has a somewhat busty, figurehead from a vessel. A taste of things to come during your visit.

The staircase has fine, intricate, wrought iron railings with a wooden hand rail. Would be great to slide down. Oops sorry.

So starting upstairs from the left there is a huge room with pillars and a highly polished wooden floor with matching huge doors.This is where temporary exhibitions are usually held . Sometimes these are non maritime completely and have been on subjects such as archaeology and slavery. This was the board room when the building was the dock offices .

Coming out of this room the other rooms mainly lead one to another. The main room at the top of the stairs was and I presume still is called the dog room. This was because of a figurehead from a ship which is mounted in there . It is of a huge black Newfoundland dog. Among all these rooms you will see works of art, maritime instruments, reading matter and many displays of models of ships in glass and mahogany cases . A lot of these models came from various shipping companies as they fell into financial loss and were closed down. They were models of ships of the company's own fleet.

There are also a lot of posters with a sailing theme by Harry Hudson Rodmell who was a famous artist of such advertising posters. There was a café here but I think it is now closed . However there are plenty of food outlets nearby in the Princes Quay shopping centre, The Ferens Art Gallery or along the Marina. Even the traditionally built old bank next door has recently been converted into a restaurant come bar.

On the ground floor, near the stairs is a small gift shop.They usually have a fair selection of postcards, greeting cards posters and small gifts. Near this there is a lot of tourist information. Staff are always helpful and knowledgeable about the museum and local area. (I have to say this having also worked here in the past)

From the main entrance if you turn left the rooms are dimly lit. There is a huge model of a fishing boat where you can press a button and see what it would have been like at night for the fishermen. These rooms have a lot of information about the fishing industry in Hull. If you carry on round you come to a Scrimshaw room . Here there is a display of Scrimshaw, which is the carved whalebone done by fisherman at sea many years ago. Although I object to whaling nowadays it is part of Hull's heritage and is interesting to see. Some of the scrimshaw is so wonderfully carved and yet quite small. Hard to think of the circumstances surrounding this art work.

Carrying round to the last large, display room you find most of the whaling information. There is a small room with pictures of various whales and recordings of whale noises. In the main part there are a variety of exhibits including a stuffed polar bear and a small boat. You climb up slightly to the boat.

Throughout the museum there is a lot of reading material. It's all well laid out so things follow on. As with a lot of museums they are constantly updating some parts of the museum. I understand there is now a feature of a restored dock. Although some displays are permanent the artefacts are changed from time. So I have not told you too much to spoil a visit. Hopefully I have just given you a taster for if you are in the area .

Although this is a traditional museum there are activities for adults and children to enjoy whilst they learn. During the week there are often organised school parties visiting from all over the place. Many schools visit a couple of museums at a time . Obviously during school holidays the museum is busy.

In the basement there is a huge store of catalogued artefacts and at the very top of the building there are offices which are still used by staff. These are not open to the public but it gives you an idea of the size of the place. The actual museum is housed over two floors.

RECOMMENDATION
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I give the Town Dock's Museum a big thumbs up. If you are interested in maritime affairs this museum will really suit you. It's not on the grand scale of Greenwich but it does have a lot to offer. For a provincial museum it has a wealth of artefacts. Even if you're not into the maritime history, with the sea being such a big part of Britain's heritage, you should find it interesting.

FACTS
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Opening times Mon-Sat 10-5 , Sun 1.30-4.30 . Last entry 15 mins prior closing time.
There is disabled access.
Free admission.
Hygenic toilets for children, adults and the disabled.
Location - Queen Victoria Square, Hull, HU1 3DX
Tel: 01482 613902
The train station is nearby and incorporates a new state of the art bus station.
A brand new shopping development, St Stephens, opened near the bus/train station in September 2007.
There is a huge car park adjoining the Princes Quay shopping development which is also part of Victoria Square .

Thanks for reading
(C) Eiley123

Summary: Either as an educational or recreational visit , browse and enjoy .