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Why Is The Khyber Pass In Hull?

All them big blocks of concrete in East Park? What they about, then? Our cub reporter Angus Young did so well with his first assignment, we let him off the lease again to investigate.

Travel writer and author Travis Elborough got it just about right, reflecting on a visit to Hull while researching the history of parks for his 2016 book A Walk In The Park. “There are few sights in England that can quite equal the absurd charm of the imitation Khyber Pass in Hull’s East Park,” he wrote.

Thought to be the largest ornamental rock feature in any public park in the country, its design is said to have been inspired by the British Army’s capture of the famous mountainous pass in 1878. Constructed just over two decades later as part of the new public park, it actually owes more to Carry On Up The Khyber – famously filmed in Snowdonia in North Wales – than the actual North West Frontier.

The central section of the Hull version is made up of large blocks of sandstone, reputedly having once been part of The Citadel, a 17th century defensive fortification overlooking the spot where the River Hull and Humber. Other sections are made from brick covered in cement render while others are topped with mis-shapen clinker bricks because of their water-resistant qualities. Today they still resemble the ruins of a military fort.

The original design also had recesses for fountains and a mini-waterfall and a bridge for people to walk over during their promenade around the park. Some early postcards also show extensive planting on the rocks. From the start, it appears to have been  historical mish-mash with a series of decorative stone roundels being set into walls of the main entrance to the Pass. These had been rescued from Suffolk Palace, the  family home of the De La Pole family which had once stood in Lowgate in Hull’s Old Town.

Another re-used historical feature from elsewhere was part of the dungeon of the former town jail, presumably added to enhance the idea of it being an old fort. The dungeon was carefully re-built on site and was later used as a store and a dog kennel by park staff. Then, in 1912, a surviving watchtower from the old Citadel was added. It had previously been acquired by a shipbuilder who had preserved it by constructing his new premises around it.

So far so Hull but the pattern of bolting on extra features to the Pass took a more exotic twist via the British Empire Exhibition held next to the new Wembley Stadium in 1924. Staged as a huge trade show, a total of 56 British territories exhibited at the event in specially-built displays and pavilions. The main entrance to the East Africa Pavilion was an ornately-carved wooden door made in Zanzibar where they were traditionally used to show an occupant’s special status and religion.

Part of the cost of the pavilion was met by Hull Corporation who, like other councils around the country, used the exhibition to develop potential new trade links with exhibiting territories. A civic delegation from Hull attended and hosted a meeting with agricultural officials from Uganda, East Africa and South African with the aim of encouraging the growth of caster seed in Africa. The idea was to create a cheaper alternative to importing caster oil from America and within a year the Union Castle shipping line had started a regular service from Mombassa in Kenya to Hull with caster seed, maize and groundnuts among the regular cargo. Meanwhile, as a result of Hull’s sponsorship, the impressive mahogany door set in a archway also ended up in the city and was duly attached to the Khyber Pass at its narrowest point.

Over the decades, this eclectic mix of local and African history named after a mountain pass between Pakistan and Afghanistan became an unofficial children’s playground rather than accurate homage to the past. As memories of the British Empire faded, younger generations would refer to it as ‘The Rockies’ while various features were either removed or, in the case of the waterfall, simply stopped working.

At some point the decorative Zanzibar door and its frame were taken down and in 1998 the watchtower was relocated to become a landmark in the new housing estate on Victoria Dock. However, as part of a £10m National Lottery-funded £10m refurbishment of the park in 2000 the Pass was also given a facelift with the restoration of a water feature and a new replacement bridge over the main walkway.

Today the place really does retain an absurd charm, underlined by the recent addition of a plaque commemorating Hull-born Tom Longstaff who was awarded a gold medal in the 1924 Winter Olympics for being part of an unsuccessful British expedition to climb Mount Everest two years earlier. What Longstaff would make of the various signs currently fixed to the walls of the Pass saying ‘ No Climbing Allowed’ is anyone’s guess.

By Angus Young

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