New Year's Eve 2016

kerryevans1
Dec 19, 2016
2 min read

This is the first New Year Eve not spent with my autistic sons Jake and Chris in 26 years. I could not see the New Year dawn without them unless it was going to be a pretty special night. The kick off to Hull’s 365 days of cultural and historical nostalgia.

Hull was once one of Europe’s top whaling ports in the 1800;s. There is a strong fishing tradition in parts of the city.

Whaling and fishing has always fascinated me. I have written a book The Hanged Man of Grobsness which highlights the ties between Shetland and Hull during the Greenland whaling days. Whaling boats leaving from Hull would make up ship numbers on Shetland because the men there were good at handling small boats due to generations of herring fishing. I lived in a croft on Shetland’s Mainland in a place called Grobsness. There is a deserted Haa or house there once inhabited by the Captain of a whaling ship called Anderson. So for some of this year I will be exploring Hull’s fishing heritage. While downing a pint here and there. As you do.

Most weekends I stock up on cheap petrol in Asda, not realising such rich history is around the corner.

So where do I stay on New Year’s Eve 2016? A central Hotel surrounded by a picturesque marina? No. A backstreet pub on the outskirts of the city called The Inkerman Tavern. It’s on Alfred Street near to a fish processing plant. Hull is full of interesting historical pubs in the Old Town with cobbled streets and expensive covers to cater for the many solicitors who work in that area. This pub is on the outskirts of Hull near the retail parks. Where “real people” live as my daughter Chloe would say.

The Inkerman Inn began as the Western Tavern at the beginning of the 19th Century. Originally going by the name of The Gate Inn. It was near to the more popular Inkerman Tavern so closed in February 1927.

The Hull Brewery Co, decided to close the Western and were paid £1000 in compensation for the extinguishment of the licence, The site was then sold to Moors' & Robson's, who owned the next door Inkerman Tavern. Both houses were demolished and a new building was erected on the site, taking in the whole corner of Alfred Street and Edgar Street, and this new building retained the name Inkerman Tavern, The place where I am staying2016 draws to an end.

Other hotels are inflating prices ready for the influx of visitors on New Year’s day. I manage to book a double room at the Inkerman Tavern for £25. I take the car because I am not sure of how public transport will be running on New Year’s Eve and I have to get back to Barton to produce an evening feast on New Year’s D