Most railway stations across Yorkshire now feature a pub. Except Hull. Well, as our transport boozer correspondent Angus Young reports, all that look set to finally change.
Beer and architecture can be an irresistible combination. In Hull, we’ve got Ye Olde White Hart, the Punch Hotel and the Mission to name but three. But a new addition expected to be added to the list soon is likely to eclipse them all.
For years there’s been talk of the spectacular former booking hall in Paragon Station being turned into a pub. Now it’s actually about to happen with funding support approved and a planning application recently submitted to Hull City Council. Grants totalling £315,000 were announced nearly a year ago by the council from a government funding pot earmarked for city centre regeneration projects involving empty premises.
Last month Thornbridge Brewery lodged a planning application for the scheme. The company is seeking advertising consent for a number of proposed signs on new traditionally detailed hardwood entrance doors to the hall which will replace the existing modern glazed ones.
As well as the doors, the planning documents also include a layout of the hall once the bar is up and running. It shows fixed seating around the perimeter of the hall, a pizza kitchen, customer toilets, outside pavement cafe seating overlooking Ferensway and a cellar. In addition, the central wooden ticket office – last used by WH Smith – will remain as it is.
All of the internal fixtures and fittings will also be fully removable to ensure the historic walls, floor and walls of the hall remain intact with no risk of potential damage. For lovers of decorative tiling and brickwork, that’s good news because the hall itself is one of the architectural wonders of Hull. It also seems long-standing issues with the building’s leaking glazed roof have also been fixed or at least are being addressed.
As for Thornbridge Brewery coming in as the operator? They seem like the perfect fit. Not only does the Derbyshire-based independent craft brewery company brew some decent stuff, it also runs some very interesting pubs. You might be familiar with the Market Cat in York, a three-storey venue on the corner of Shambles Market, or The Banker’s Cat in Leeds, a traditional pub sat inside a former city centre bank. Then there’s The Fargate in Sheffield (another former bank now with its own pizza kitchen) and The Colmore in Birmingham, an opulent throwback designed in the style of a traditional New York bar. The brewery also has a pub in London – The Wold Swan in Holborn – which features a range of cask ales including beers from the Thornbridge range along with guest beers from other craft brewers.
Each venue has a dash of style and elegance about them – another good sign that we are in for something special in the old booking hall. And if you’re really into the whole craft beer-making process, Thornbridge also operates tours of its brewery in Bakewell where there is also a tap room and shop.
As yet, there’s no opening date for the booking hall bar or even a confirmed name but once the planning process is completed then it should be all systems go. There’s also the important matter of 15 jobs being created in the development. Overall, it’s a project which seems to have captured the imagination of folk in Hull before it’s even started.
We can’t wait to sample the finished product in such grand surroundings.