Gardens Fit for a Queen

Bang in the centre of Hull is a ten-acre park called Queen’s Gardens. Surprisingly, until 1935 this was a commercial dock (dating back to 1778 and then the largest in England), accessible to ships initially via the River Hull and later via the Humber Estuary. Construction cost £65,000 or the equivalent of £7.5M in 2026 — remember that figure. After final redundancy and filling in, there have been various park designs, but all broadly based upon the original vision of architect Sir Frederick Gibberd.

For the last few years this much-used and well-loved green space has been closed off to all users, even Hull Pride. Yes, the ‘improvement’ work was even this much of a priority. But hooray, it’s now finally fully reopened and some uncharitable Philistines might say now looks a bit like a small airport runway. Perhaps the ghost of local lass Amy Johnson is going to land in her plane ‘Jason’ to inaugurate the revamp.

Now if you were an oligarch, Labour minister or merely a lottery winner with a mansion and an acre or two of gardens, would you spend £2,000,000+ (yes, two million pounds plus) per acre just on a garden makeover? This is exactly what Hull City Council has done, but it’s OK because Hull is a very wealthy city (not) and anyway much of the money was ‘won’ from the Heritage Lottery Fund (so that’s OK too).

What does £21M and four years of work buy? Well not that much it seems. Rosebowl Fountain as before, check. Three duck or fish ponds with fountains as before, check. Grassed areas, seating, paved areas, plants and trees like before, check — but no, not exactly. There are circa 130 new trees (we’ve not counted them yet) and significant all-new planting. The old cafe has been demolished and replaced with a new building on the same footprint, but its purpose isn’t yet clear. However, it certainly isn’t a cafe or even WCs. Don’t get taken short in Queen’s Gardens, especially if you are less mobile, as the nearest public loos are a good distance away and down steps under a statue of Queen Victoria, and unlike Queen’s Gardens not open 24/7.

We’re the first to acknowledge that there has indeed been very significant building works to the perimeter walls and pathways etc. and an overdue sprucing up of all the water features, with all now looking smashing, but…

Apparently the ‘new Queen’s Gardens’ now pays proper homage to the original dock, and in some ways they do with various pieces of sculpture, heritage interpretation boards aplenty, lighting that resembles cranes and smart dock-like metal fencing on all sides etc. Access for the less mobile (with strong bladders) is also much more evident. Strangely a large 1950s/60s drinking fountain has been lovingly restored, but is not intended to work except as sculpture, so a bit of a white elephant surely?

Regarding white elephants, six 1961 abstract carved stone panels by Kenneth Carter that might look good (if you like that sort of thing) are still not sited symmetrically or properly together as a group. One memorable heritage feature of ‘old Queen’s Gardens’ has inexplicably disappeared altogether, this being a large bronze plaque commemorating that Daniel Defoe’s fictional Robinson Crusoe sailed from Hull in 1651. Perhaps a new memorial to exploited ethnic Man Friday is under development? And, having been rejected and ignored by David Bowie since 1973, after playing so magnificently on Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, it seems Hull has also rejected Mick Ronson. The Mick Ronson Performance Stage, once a landmark in the gardens, is gone.

Of course, the beautiful new planting incorporates gravel ‘pathways’ for dispersing rainwater in this age of climate and nature emergency, that Hull City Council is naturally 100% on board with. Hull City Council though don’t ever really think things through. These ‘paths’ are an open invitation to ‘the bairns’ (Hull speak for children) to run through, doing damage on the way — just like they do on the Beverley Gate English Civil War Scheduled Monument nearby.

Being miserable old gits, we are unable to get quite as excited about what suspiciously looks like a way of lessening the previous prime function of a park by transforming it into ‘an events’ space, quite as much as our betters at Hull City Council clearly do. Sadly, it will be another generation that finally gets to enjoy mature tree avenues as the previous ones were uprooted and replaced with new trees (rare species apparently, so that’s obviously OK too).

We’re the first to admit Queen’s Gardens now look good and are a credit to Yorkshire’s only Maritime City, but at a cost of £20M+ and four years of works surely it really ought to be just a bit more spectacular and we can’t help but wonder if all this couldn’t have been achieved in half the time for a quarter of the cost? We are looking forward to the first influx of exotic alfresco barbecuing, paddling in the ponds and hopefully blade-free fisticuffs between any warring factions at ‘events’. So far, the promised COVID Memorial Garden hasn’t materialised (just a revamped ‘Peace Garden’) nor, surprisingly, any special measures to ensure Hull’s circa 94% white privileged population don’t hog all the heritage, nature and fun at the expense of our downtrodden minorities. Give it time though… it’s never dull in Hull.

The Hulligans are two Hull residents who wish to remain anonymous. We live under the watchful eye of Humberside Police, famous for introducing the oxymoron ‘non-crime hate incident’ into the lexicon.

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(Photograph: Paul Glazzard / Queens Gardens, Hull) 

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