Our pointless structures correspondent Angus Young heads to the edge of Hull to admire some unnecessary crenellations.

There are many folly buildings and structures dotted around East Yorkshire but none can quite match the historical quirkiness of one in Ellerker. In many ways, the small hamlet ten miles west of Hull ticks all the required boxes to qualify as a quintessentially English rural village. Unlike some of its immediate neighbours, Ellerker has not been overrun with new housing development. Instead, it still boasts a scattered cluster of distinctive older buildings made with materials extracted from local quarries as well as paddocks, crofts, farms, meandering country lanes, a stream and a large public green.

As a recent appraisal report on the Conservation Area covering most of the village put it: “Ellerker retains an open character, built form and quality of landscape that represents a rare survival of a pre-industrialised settlement.” A lack of kerbs, road markings and signs only add to its timeless quality. Many signs removed during the Second World War in a pre-emptive attempt to confuse invading German troops simply never re-appeared once the war ended. The same fate also befell a historic milestone which was buried in a secret spot for safekeeping. The elderly resident who kept it safe later died without divulging its whereabouts.

However right in the middle of this peaceful agricultural environment is an odd-looking stone wall complete with crenellations and archways, resembling something you might see as part of an ancient military castle. A clue to the wall’s origins can be seen high up in one section. Hand-carved into the stone is the legend: SEBASTOPOL 1855 A.D.

Scholars of the Crimean War will immediately recognise the name of the besieged city and the date as key elements of the conflict between the Russian Empire and the Allied forces of Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia. So was the wall brought back from the Black Sea port and re-built in Ellerker as some kind of memorial? Not quite, apparently.

According to local legend it was actually made from ballast used in ships sailing from Hull taking troops, ammunition and supplies to Crimea. At the time, stone for ballast was brought from Iceland by whaling ships. The same stone was also used to pave streets in Hull and nearby villages. Both the ballast and some of the vessels in question belonged to the owner of Ellerker Hall who is said to have decided to re-create a chunk of Crimea in the village.

Why it was built is not really known but the most popular theory suggests it was intended to spare the hall’s owner from having to see an elderly woman who lived in a cottage opposite using her outside toilet. Today, her former property is officially known as Sebastopol Cottage. I’m told it now has an inside loo.

Angus Young

University of Hull professor Robb Robinson tells another tale from Hull’s maritime history.

Have a look inside one the most fascinating and important places in the city.

Before you fork out for an expensive household items, maybe pop down Endike Lane and borrow it, says our appliance leasing correspondent Angus Young.

Here at Curiosity Hull we love our libraries. So when I needed a leaf shredder but didn’t fancy buying one I naturally headed to Endike Lane in North Hull to visit the rather wonderful Library of Stuff.

LoS works a bit like a traditional lending library but instead of books, the shelves are stocked with, well, stuff. Patio pressure washers, camping tents, sets of golf clubs complete with trolleys, a pasting table, disco lights, fondue sets and litter picking kits to name but a few. Currently the most popular item is the humble carpet cleaner.

Founder and director Alan Dalgairns is used to the inevitable question about just how many things are available to borrow. “We have got 1,600 items available and we typically lend around 100 items a week with the same number being returned which makes it pretty busy because we’re only open two days a week,” he says.

Run as a not-for-profit community interest company, the library operates through a membership scheme. You can choose between a £80 yearly membership which allows you to borrow items for free or opt to pay per item as listed in the library’s online catalogue after paying a £5 joining fee.

Prior to pick up, items can be reserved via the website and the typical loan is for seven days. Alan launched Library of Stuff in his own garage five years ago, keen to see if an idea he’d seen elsewhere would work in Hull. “It was March 2020, the week before the Covid lockdown so we were immediately shut for three months. When we were able to open again under social distancing I used to leave items half-way down the drive for people to collect.”

At the time there were only five other projects like it in the whole of the UK. Now there are 15 with London’s Library of Things boasting now fewer than 21 branches scattered across the capital. Although most operate slightly differently, they all share the common aim of allowing people to borrow things at affordable prices instead of them being forgotten about in a loft or ending up in landfill. “Unfortunately we live in a throwaway society but we are trying to buck that trend by  encouraging people to reuse things and donate items if they can,” said Alan.

Having worked in IT most of his life, he’s now relishing being part of a growing network of grassroots libraries lending practical hands-on things. “This is my first job working directly with the community and I’ve got to admit it’s been a breath of fresh air. Everyone has been fantastic and so supportive. Library of Stuff exists to make essential items accessible to everyone in Hull, regardless of their income. In times when families are choosing between heating and eating, we believe no-one should have to spend hundreds of pounds on items they will only use occasionally. We keep our borrowing fees intentionally low so that all families can access equipment they need.”.

Support for the LoS was underlined recently when a Crowdfunder appeal aiming to raise £7,380 to cover its annual rental, utilities and insurance costs ended up attracting  £11,000 in donations.

As well as its lending service, the LoS runs a monthly repair cafe at Unity in Community in Greenwood Avenue, North Hull, where people can book a slot to have items fixed while some of the library’s most popular items are also available to borrow from a number of special lockers based at the Freedom Centre in Preston Road, East Hull.

Angus Young

Actor Matt takes us for a wander (and a bit of shopping) down Hepworth’s Arcade.

Our elevated shipping correspondent Angus Young takes a trip to the Andes and beyond.

They were constructed next to the Humber in a Hull shipyard standing just a few feet or so above sea level. However, the SS Inca and the SS Ollanta were destined for much higher waters. Both ships were built by Earle’s shipyard at Victoria Dock to operate on Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world which lies in the Andes mountains between Peru and Bolivia.

Earle’s made ships for the British, Japanese and Chilean navies, the Hull-based Wilson Line and yachts for the Russian aristocracy. But the orders by the British-owned Peruvian Corporation were undoubtedly its most unusual contracts.

The British takeover of Peru’s state railway company in the late 19th century was part of a deal allowing Peru to pay off crippling debts caused by war and a series of natural disasters. In 1904 with traffic increasing on the 118-mile long lake, Earle’s secured a contract with the company to build the 220 foot-long steamer Inca. The ship was twice the size of the largest vessel sailing on the lake and when it was completed each section was carefully marked before the whole ship was dismantled. All parts of the vessel were then placed in packing crates, including the engines and boilers which had been  manufactured separately.

The crates were shipped from Hull in 1905 and on arriving in Peru they were transported 200 miles by railway to the lake where all the sections were re-assembled before the ship entered service.

Twenty five years later Earle’s won a second contract for an even larger vessel, the 260ft-long Ollanta, to operate on the lake. The ship was built and then dismantled in the same way as the Inca and this time the company sent one of its top engineers to Peru to supervise its re-assembly. William Smale’s task was not easy.  As well as the challenge of piecing the vessel back together, he had to rely on local labourers who not only spoke little English but also possessed few skills related to modern shipbuilding and engineering. Lacking many tools for the job, Smale improvised by adapting existing railway machinery while pressing ahead with the construction of a new slipway from scratch where the ship could be launched.

His original instructions were that he should wait for the arrival of a team from Hull to help with the launch but Smale and his Peruvian workforce cracked on and Ollanta was already in the water when his colleagues finally arrived. The steamer had a deadweight capacity of 950 tons and her four oil-fired engines gave her a top speed of 14.5 knots. Accommodation was also provided for 86 first and second-class passengers.

Smale stayed on in South America for a number of years, taking on a senior engineering job with the Peruvian railway company. He later worked in India before returning to Hull and spent part of the Second World War working on the construction of the famous portable Mulberry harbours used in the D-Day landings.  The Inca survived until the 1990s before being scrapped. Her original Earle’s builders’ plate is displayed in a ticket office at the lake.

Today SS Ollanta is berthed in Puno harbour on the lake. No longer in regular service, she is reportedly used for occasional passenger cruises.

Angus Young

Hull Tour Guide Paul Schofield takes a trip down Hedon Road to visit one of the most eerie and intriguing places in the city.

Our wartime espionage correspondent Angus Young unveils a fascinating tale of deception, misidentification and model ships.

Max Schultz was born in Hull while his emigrant parents were heading to America from their native Germany. Perhaps his arrival changed their plans because they decided to stay in Hull where his father eventually opened a shoe shop. Little is known of his early life but Schultz developed a successful career as a shipbroker and owner, reflected by the fact that, along with his wife Sarah and five children, he lived in a large house in fashionable Coltman Street where several master mariners and other prominent figures of the day also lived.

Through his work, Schultz spent much of his time at ports on the continent and because of this he came to the attention of the newly-formed Secret Service Bureau of the British government. What would become MI6, the bureau was created in 1909 in response to British concerns over the rapid expansion of the German Navy. Schultz’s occupation was a perfect cover for frequent visits to Germany to gather information on vessels being built for the Imperial fleet.

For two years he managed a team of four paid informants working in various shipyards, reputedly obtaining a large collection of drawings which were brought back to London. However in 1911 he was arrested in Hamburg by the German authorities along with two accomplices, convicted of spying and jailed for seven years. While he spent the First World War behind bars, back in Hull his wife Sarah was forced to revert to her maiden name of Hilton as anti-German hostility swept the city as a result of deadly Zeppelin raids. Street riots broke out and shops owned by Germans or with German-sounding names were attacked while stones and abuse were hurled at the family’s house in Coltman Street by attackers unaware of Schultz’s secret spying missions on behalf of Britain. It’s also likely some had confused him with another Max Schultz, a German arrested in Portsmouth for spying on British naval shipping.

On his release from prison after the war the Hull-born Schultz also changed his name to Hilton and resumed working for the Secret Service, returning to Germany after a brief spell back in his home city, Sadly, his marriage collapsed and he died a premature death in 1924 at the age of just 49 reportedly an alcoholic.

His remarkable story was given a new lease of life in 1999 when a model ship was bought at a flea market in Hamburg. The ship in question was the 1912 ocean liner SS Imperator, once the largest passenger ship in the world and flagship of the Hamburg-America shipping company. The man who made it was Max Schultz.

The model’s new owner found a hand-written note hidden beneath one of the ship’s funnels. It said: “Oct 6, 1913, To whom so ever find this may know, that this is placed inside of the model of the Imperator H&A line 828 ft long, 87 ft beam and 48 ft depth.  The model is built to scale by the writer in Fuhlsbuttel Hard Labour prison with very odd & rough tools despite it not on account of roughness, it is a labour of love and helps pass the time. I am here now two and a half years, having been sentenced in Leipzig to seven years for espionage for the dear old English government. I am an English man and a ship owner residing in Coltman Street, Hull, Yorkshire. Wife a Hilton good and true, five children. Max William Schultz.”

Angus Young

Crime writer and pop fan Nick Quantrill returns to 1972 and the tale of a spontaneous concert.

Comic Jed Salisbury popped into Back To Ours Bransholme Chat to select the best of his contemporaries.