A small square of concrete gives clue to the power once created in the city, finds our aged energy correspondent Angus Young.

Hull’s history is often to be found under our feet and there’s a perfect example embedded in a pavement in Guildhall Road in the city centre. At first glance, the battered manhole cover doesn’t look very interesting and is in stark contrast with all the adjacent shiny new public realm in Queens Gardens. But closer inspection of its metal nameplate reveals the words ‘Electric Light’. It’s a rare surviving throwback to the days when Hull generated its own electricity to create publicly-owned power.

The first steps were taken in 1880 when Hull Corporation successfully lobbied for new parliamentary legislation allowing a private company to generate and supply electricity for public lighting in the Old Town. The Hull (Corporation) Electric Lighting Act 1880 was only the second such legal authorisation in the country following similar legislation passed for Liverpool. However, technical problems would plague the early pioneering days of electricity in Hull and in 1884 the street lighting scheme was scrapped because it was so unreliable.

Undaunted, the Corporation decided to press on and build its own municipal power station in Dagger Lane which opened in 1893. Having secured further necessary parliamentary orders, electricity generated from the Dagger Lane station was initially supplied to 33 customers. Within five years, that number had jumped to 679. By then, the Corporation had established its own Electric Lighting Committee to oversee the management and supply of the electricity being generated.

The committee’s formation coincided with the opening of the Sculcoates Power Station next to the Beverley and Barmston Drain. Built and operated by the Corporation, this much larger power station not only provided power to expanding industries to the west of the Old Town but also to the east side of the River Hull. Its location next to the railway line running to the docks allowed for regular deliveries of coal to feed the station’s boilers while water from the drain provided all-important cooling. Operating data for 1923 show nearly 4,000 domestic customers were using electricity from Sculcoates while 122 street lights were illuminated every night courtesy of the same power source.

Two decades and a number of upgrades later, the station was supplying 95,000 customers, many of them beyond Hull’s boundary in Cottingham, Beverley, Hedon and Skirlaugh. Hull’s electric street lighting was also rolled out into neighbouring twins and villages in the East Riding where old lamp posts featuring the city’s famous Three Crowns logo can still be seen today.

For many years the Corporation’s Electricity Department operated a shop under the City Hall where the venue’s ticket and sales office is based today. Customers could pay their bills at the shop as well as see a range of new electric appliances and household gadgets. Later, a new shop opened in Ferensway in the same block as the Regal (ABC) cinema.

When the Central Electricity Board was created in 1926 with a remit to construct a national grid, Sculcoates was designated as a key supplier to the new system which connected large regional power stations to the grid. In 1939, almost one quarter of all the power generated in Hull was sold to the Central Electricity Board.

Sadly, the heyday of local power in local hands generating healthy profits to be spent locally were coming to an end. In 1948 the British electricity supply industry was nationalised and ownership of the Sculcoates power station was transferred from what was now Hull City Council to a new national body while distribution and sales responsibilities were switched to the new Yorkshire Electricity  Board. The Sculcoates station was eventually decommissioned and disconnected from the national grid in 1976.

Three years later its distinctive chimneys and 300ft high cooling tower were demolished. Today the old power station site is a housing estate.

Angus Young

Graduate of the Brit School Jessika Mae-Martin reports from Hull’s Music Library on why, in a digital age, some still prefer a bit of paper in their hands.

Back to Ours board member Malcolm stopped our crew in Victoria Square because he really wanted to tell us about his musical meanderings.

We can’t tell you who to vote for, but we can let you know how to vote. Here’s Hull’s longest-serving election journalist Angus Young with the lowdown.

The countdown is underway to the city council elections. Voters will go to the polls on Thursday, May 7, but there’s plenty going on before then. For a start, the pre-election period is already underway with the official publication of the Notice of Election by the council.

In his hi-tech era, it’s comforting to know this not only involves publishing the notice online but also attaching a good old-fashioned paper version to a cork noticeboard in the Guildhall using a couple of drawing pins. Council chief executive Matt Jukes recently performed the traditional tricky task of pushing the drawing pins in place without stabbing himself in the process. He said: “With our local electrons fast approaching, I would like to encourage all residents who aren’t already, to register to vote. In particular, any residents who have moved house, changed their name or turned 18 in the last year will need to register so that they are able to vote.

“It is also important to remind electors that, reflecting national legislation, they now need to show acceptable photo ID to vote at a polling station or, of course, you can register for a postal vote. These elections are the opportunity for residents to have their say on who represents them on Hull City Council, dealing with decisions and issues that directly affect our day-to-day lives.”

The deadline to register to vote is Monday, April 20, and the online process takes just five minutes. People can choose to vote by post for any reason, including if they cannot get to a polling station on Thursday 7 May. Applications can also be made online. It is also possible to vote by proxy, where a voter can appoint someone they trust to vote on their behalf. Applications for a proxy vote can also be made online.

Paper application forms for both postal and proxy votes can also be requested from the Electoral Services office by email: electoral.services@hullcc.gov.uk or by phone, 01482 613386.

The deadline for new postal vote applications or for changes to an existing postal or proxy votes is 5pm on Tuesday, April 21.

The deadline for new proxy vote applications is 5pm on Tuesday 28 April.

Meanwhile, if you fancy standing as a candidate you have until Friday, April 9, to submit your nomination papers.

The main political parties already have their candidates in place so anyone thinking of throwing their hat into the ring will probably have to stand as an independent. The full list of nominated candidates is expected to be published late on April 9. Of Hull’s 21 wards, one seat each in 19 wards is up for grabs on May 7. The two wards where elections are not taking place are Ings and Kingswood.

The council’s current political make-up has the Liberal Democrats as the majority group on 29 seats. Labour hold 23 seats while there are  five Independents. Of the seats on the council being contested in the elections, the Lib Dems currently hold ten seats while Labour hold nine. This year, for the first time, both Reform UK and the Green Party have already announced they will be fielding a full slate of candidates.

Angus Young

Andy Train, of Pride In Hull, takes a few minutes out of his day to explain what big church he likes best.

Amy Thompson, our Urban Mythbuster, heads down Hull History Centre to discover if we say Hull and not Kingston Upon Hull because of a row with the king.

At a recent Mini-Malarkey, we met Rachel from Square Peg and she told us all about what they’re about.

Our Santa phoneline correspondent Angus Young reports on yet another (slightly odd) Hull first.

While children up and down the land continued to scribble traditional letters to Santa in post-war Britain, their counterparts in Hull were ahead of the game. Not for them a pencil and paper and a carrot for Rudolph. Instead, they got on the phone and dialled a special Hull number – 211211.

Launched in 1952 by the council-owned Hull Telephones, Call Father Christmas was the first telephone service of its kind in the country. It was the brainchild of Councillor J.M. Stamper, a member of the council’s Telephones Committee. On a visit to Europe, he came across a recorded children’s story service you could listen to on the phone and thought it would be good to do the same in Hull.

Thanks to the fact that Hull’s telephone service was independent of the national one run by the Post Office (and later British Telecom), innovation was much easier to implement at a local level. Putting the idea into practice, staff at the Telephones department wrote and recorded a series of Christmas stories with an engineer doubling as Santa Claus to deliver a special message. The dial-up festive menu also included a selection of Christmas carols and the festive sound of sleigh bells.

The first Christmas story as told by Santa himself in a Hull accent attracted 20,000 callers when the number was made available on the three days running up to Christmas. The instant popularity of the service attracted national and international media attention with the story making headlines in America, France and even Japan. Closer to home, it also featured in the official Brownies Annual.

In the following year, 32,000 calls were logged. Buoyed by its success, the Telephones department expanded the service. Soon children could listen to bedtime stories over the phone while their parents could ring up for recipes, details about local attractions, to hear the latest pop hits and check their watches with Hull’s version of the speaking clock

The recipes would evolve over the years, from the 1950s favourites of meat loaf and corned beef to more modern 1990s dishes such as Italian chicken bake. By 1985 the Hull dial-up service was probably at its peak with no fewer than 14 different recorded services for people to call including one featuring the latest job vacancies in the city.

The Call Father Christmas service ran until the 1990s when, gradually, the record telephone services were phased out. By then, mobile phones and something called the internet were about to change the way we communicated with each other – and Santa – forever.

Angus Young

The soul of culture in Hull, Paul Jackson has passed away aged 71. Legend Jacko improved countless thousands of young lives via his beloved Adelphi Club. The world’s best music venue stands monument to one of the Hull’s greatest sons. Here are personal tributes from our correspondents Angus Young and Phil Ascough.

I got to know Jacko during the very early days of his reign at the Adelphi. He had just taken over the club which was slowly shedding its former clientele and welcoming a new wave of soon-to-be familiar faces. Many of the departing crew were full-time local criminals, comfortable in their various illegal lines of work and tolerated by Jacko probably for his own self-preservation. Bingo sessions, a weekly gay night and menacing middle-aged men prone to violence gradually gave way to young aspiring musicians, students and occasional journalists.

In those days, going to a gig there was a bit like popping round to your best mate’s house for a party with a lanky hippy at the front door checking everyone in and out. Jacko was the doorman, the barman, the venue owner, the promoter and the music fan all rolled into one. His club was as sometimes as gloriously chaotic as the wild mane of hair under his trademark cap but everyone loved him – and his dog Yosser – because of it.

When I took over responsibility for covering the local music scene for the Hull Daily Mail, Jacko and his instantly-recognisable Adelphi flyers became indispensable. Obviously, he never had the money or the inclination to pay for any newspaper advertising. Instead, he argued we had a responsibility to support local musicians and spread the word about visiting bands from out of town. His mission should be our mission.

It was often an uphill task trying to convince my editor that our readers might be interested in Dog Faced Hermans or Death By Milkfloat headlining at 89 De Grey Street later that particular week but Jacko was typically kind enough to acknowledge my efforts. Eventually, my boss cracked. The Housemartins were starting to make national headlines. He’d heard of them and made the connection. “They’re from that place you’re always writing about, aren’t they?” he said.

More than anything else, I think Jacko’s eclectic musical tastes helped shape what followed as the Adelphi’s initial close-knit community of misfits began to expand and embrace all walks of life. Endlessly generous with his time and support, I also rarely saw him lose his temper despite having to deal with all sorts of rock ‘n’ roll bad behaviour.

Once, after a gig by The Primitives at the height of their one-hit fame in 1988, I was sitting upstairs on a sofa in Jacko’s living room interviewing singer Tracy Cattell when a huge fight broke out between two of her band members. “They’re always like this,” sighed Tracy as I spotted a familiar figure looming into view ringside. Within seconds, Jacko had parted the battling duo. Five minutes later he was in a huddle with them chatting about music while sharing a pot of tea.

Years later I was chuffed when I saw him included in Ed Ulyart’s Hull musical wall of fame mural on a gable end in Clumber Street – a much-deserved tribute even though I suspect the man himself was probably quite embarrassed about it.

Thanks for the memories Jacko. Rest in peace.

Angus Young

It was in 2017 when the Adelphi Club became a Community Interest Company that I asked Paul Jackson if, 33 years after opening the venue, this signalled he was now looking for the investment which would take it to the next level. He replied that it was merely a case of him becoming more conscious of his own mortality. A CIC would have a better chance of securing the future of the club.

Much more recently, lying in his bed at Dove House Hospice, Jacko revealed: “I’m on my way out after 55 years of living with type 1 diabetes.” At that point he’d been in Dove House for four weeks. We tried to lift the mood by chatting about his passions. Fishing has always been one, but I know nothing about that so we stuck to cricket and music, sometimes both at once.

Jacko expanded on a social media exchange in which one poster asked Paul Heaton about the time the Housemartins singer was recruited for the Fenners cricket team. “We were about three players short and Paul said he would come along so we put him down to bat at 10 – in a 10-man team,” Jacko recalled. “We needed 179 to win. I was batting at eight and when I was out we still needed 60 or 70. Paul scored about 25 not out and hit the winning run. He’s still got the scorecard somewhere.”

I joined the Adelphi cricket team for a match in Jacko’s home village of Cottingham. He turned out for our media cricket team, which included broadcast legend Burnsy and future national newspaper journalists Andrew Buncombe and Martyn Ziegler. Jacko brought a touch of class and tradition with his floppy cap and orthodox forward defensive – taking the longest stride down the wicket and maintaining the straightest bat.

Turning to music, I congratulated Jacko on his vast and encyclopaedic knowledge, which he demonstrated by running through some of the tracks he has planned into the playlist for his funeral. We didn’t dwell on that too much but spoke of some of the bands and performers who graced the Adelphi during the years when I wrote about music for the Yorkshire Post. From Hull, the Gargoyles, Pink Noise, Milkfloat, Von Trapps. Hope Street from Scarborough, God’s Little Monkeys from York, the Snapdragons from Leeds, and big names including Pulp, The La’s, The Shamen from the national scene. Even bigger names followed in the years after I moved on, and I missed Radiohead, Oasis, Stone Roses and more.

Lately Jacko had chided me for being stuck in the past, challenging me to celebrate the new talent. I stand by my response. You have to write what you know. As time moves on and bands change, so too must the audiences and media. Without that live connection you lose the authenticity, but the Adelphi has maintained it as Jacko’s passion has attracted new generations of people committed to supporting the local music scene. Jacko’s criticism was merely another sign of the frustrations he has faced since opening the Adelphi in 1984. There was no shortage of locals and industry contacts ready to slag off a live music venue in a converted house in a residential street.

In the early years the club was blamed by the City Council for fly posting by bands. World Party cancelled at the last minute cancellation. David Gray came on all prima donna. Police were called after one band was caught messing around with a replica pistol in the car park. But these were one-offs and Jacko’s zero tolerance policy on drugs, fighting and any other antisocial behaviour enabled him to build up strong reserves of trust and goodwill. Lack of money was a more serious issue, as it is with other treasures of the local music scene. When the organisers of Humber Street Sesh tell you they put on last year’s festival without getting paid, it makes you wonder how Jacko managed for so long.

Social media posters talk about statues and plaques, but that’s not Jacko. The best tribute would be a lasting commitment to provide meaningful support to our city’s live music scene from the grassroots up, and the CIC is the perfect vehicle to pursue that. It’s not just musicians who benefit. We spoke about Adelphi alumni who went to the club as children and are now making their mark in the industry – one as a member of Nick Cave’s crew, another who worked on the tech for this year’s BAFTAs.

And then there are the social and community benefits. I found my future wife at the Adelphi. Our eyes met across a crowded Gargoyles gig. We invited Jacko to the wedding. He said he didn’t have a suit. I said it didn’t matter. He turned up on the day wearing a t-shirt from one of the visiting Adelphi bands – The Band of Holy Joy.

Phil Ascough

Amy, from the Hull Schools Library Service, gives us the lowdown on the best book awards in the country.