Emily works for Ideal Heating in Hull as a design engineer and, yes, it the job is as cool as it sounds.

You may expect Lily, from Astra Youth Centre, to have conventional music tastes. You’d be very wrong.

With acclaimed Hull-based theatre company Middle Child currently moving into new permanent premises, Audience Development Manager Jamie Potter pops onto the podcast to tell Burnsy how this changes their game.

Remember last year when we broke the news that Pierhead was to be demolished? Now it’s been confirmed, our disappearing heritage correspondent Angus Young finds out what next.

A few months ago we brought you the news that a contract had been awarded to a civil engineering firm to draw up plans for the removal of Hull’s historic Victoria Pier. Originally constructed in 1810, the pier has changed a bit since then. During the Edwardian era it was in its pomp, fearing covered walkways and an upper deck viewing area.

Readers of a certain age can probably still get misty eyed at memories of catching the ferry from the pier (me!-Ed.) or having a cuppa in the council cafe which once operated from the main deck. However, the structure has been closed to the public since June 2022 after safety concerns were raised about its condition. Now the city council has confirmed its intention to dismantle the pier and come up with a new design for a replacement.

The council says surveys have revealed  “localised rotting”  is nearly all sections of the supporting timber columns and decking. Apparently, the deterioration is so bad that removal is the only safe option. Some locals who keep an eye on these things suggest the pier never really recovered from the battering it took during the tidal surge event on the Humber in 2013. Others suggest rumoured damage caused during subsequent flood defence works in the area hastened its demise. Either way, the end appears to be nigh for one of Hull’s most famous landmarks.

So what happens next ? According to the council, its contractors Mason Clark Associates have developed three potential outline design options for a new pier.

Each one features a different suggested layout and the designs are going to be made public very soon as part of a public engagement process. As such, people will be vote for the design they prefer the most. Councillor Mark Ieronimo, cabinet member for all things bridges, said: “ Victoria Pier is an important part of Hull’s maritime history. We know how much it means to our residents and this poll is a vital step towards the pier becoming once again a welcoming place for residents and visitors to enjoy and reflect on our city’s heritage. When the poll opens, it will give everyone a chance to vote on how the pier will look by choosing the layout they think is most suitable, ultimately leading to a pier for future generations to enjoy.”

Hopefully, the proposed designs will give people plenty to chew over before picking the one they like best. However, I think we should end on a slightly cautionary note.

This is the city council we are talking about here and we are still waiting for the promised re-location of the Banksy mural from the old Scott Street bridge. It’s only been a mere eight years since then…… 

Angus Young

Who better to explain who someone is than the society dedicated to them? And, luckily, we met the Mary Wollstonecraft Society at a recent Mini-Malarkey.

Hull Tour Guide Paul Schofield seeks out the spot where one of the city’s largest and shortest-lived theatres stood.

One of the most handsome and remarkable buildings in Hull looks to have an uncertain future, reports our shuttered heirlooms correspondent Angus Young.

The sudden closure of the Late Night Pharmacy last summer left a question mark over one of Hull’s most unusual landmarks. The business had occupied ground floor space at the Annison Building in Witham for the previous 12 years. When the closure happened the pharmacy was also the only tenant left in the old parade of seven shops which curve around the junction overlooking North Bridge.

Built around 1900, the original wooden shop fronts are still intact as is the stunning glazed dark red brickwork. A wet fish shop, a newsagents and a photographic studio were among the businesses to have traded there in the past. When they were built the new shops enclosed an existing livery yard and blacksmiths to the rear while stables for horses were constructed on the upper floor accessed via a covered gallery and a broad  sloping wooden ramp.

Over the years the yard, stables and the ramp were used by horses belonging to funeral directors T.S. Annison, tea company Rington’s and the mounted police. These remarkable surviving original features are believed to be unique and are made all the more atmospheric by a series of large glazed skylights on the roof. There’s certainly nowhere like it locally or even, perhaps, nationally and it’s no surprise to learn that the entire property was awarded Grade II listed building status back in 1990.

More recently, the upper floor stables also hosted ghost tours and various paranormal events as part of the boom in haunted tourism.  The stables also attracted a wider audience during the annual Heritage Open Day weekend.

However, since the pharmacy shut last July access to the internal yard and the stables has also closed. Whether they re-open for this year’s heritage event in September remains uncertain and probably depends on the immediate fate of the unique property which is currently up for sale or to let.

As yet, we’ve been unable to track down any details of the asking price. It appears to be a word-of-mouth private sale with no commercial advertising involved. However, we did manage to chat to the developer behind the facelift  project currently being carried out on next door property which is actually older than the Annison Building, dating back to 1870. The empty property is being converted into six upper floor flats with three new flats being created in a rear extension. There will also be three revamped ground-floor shop units.

“I did look at next door but eventually decided it’s not for me,” he told us. “Because it’s a listed building, the cost of doing anything to it is probably too much for most people to make it worth it. People don’t realise how much money is required to do everything in line with what the conservation people say have to be done with a listed building refurbishment. Pretty much everything has to be like for like if you’re replacing fixtures and fittings and that isn’t cheap if you’ve got something like next door.”

For now, the empty landmark awaits a new owner and a new future. Let’s hope it’s not a long wait.

Angus Young

Soaking-wet sports writer Tony Collins outlines the part a Hull lad played in both rugby and defeating fascism.

We bumped into author Donna David at a recent Mini-Malarkey and she ran down her favourite animal facts for us.

Honorary research fellow at the University of Hull Dr Robb Robinson returns to the podcast to tackle more of your historical queries.