Do we live in Hull? Kingston-Upon-Hull? Humberside? Yorkshire?

Does what we call our grand city bother you?

The Hull Daily Mail is reporting that Royal Mail will decide whether to drop the use of the defunct term Humberside from its postal databases by the end of the year.

There’s actually been a campaign set up to remove the term Humberside, because it angers people that much.

Not something I’ve ever got worked up about myself – after all, we still have Humberside Police and Radio Humberside don’t we?

What else?

Humberside airport? Humberside Fire & Rescue?

As long as my post still reaches me, it could pretty much say anything. I see the Royal Mail have sent me a Christmas card too. That’s nice isn’t it…

Whether its witches, vampires or ghouls, Hull is set to be one of the scariest cities in the UK this Halloween according to our online directories, including our very own city-visitor.

The data has revealed that searches for fancy dress shops in Hull is soaring in the run up to Halloween.

Hull has recorded 140% more searches compared to the average of the top twenty cities across the UK who have featured highly in searches for local fancy dress shops. In second place is the Isle of Man, with Liverpool coming a spooky third.

Which just goes to show that the residents of Hull obviously aren’t running scared of the recession and are gearing up for one of the best Halloweens yet!

It’s good to read the theatre in Hull doing well since it moved to the Ferensway building.

I haven’t been to see its new home yet I have to admit, although it’s one of these things I keep promising myself to do.

Whenever I go to the theatre, or the cinema in Hull for that matter, I always think I should go more often. I think we’re very lucky to have the likes of playwright John Godber on our doorstep and his long association with Hull Truck, so as the nights start to draw in (I know, the falling leaves are making me depressed already), perhaps it may inspire you for an evening out soon.

There are talks of a new passenger cruise terminal at the Port of Hull. Talk about any port in a storm.

As the Yorkshire Post questions, what exactly does the Humber have in common with the Caribbean? Hmm… Errm… Tropical fish?

Still, the article does list why Hull could be a pretty effective port of call – it has the capacity, Hull is central on the east coast with “a catchment area of 40 million people within four hour’s drive”, and it’s a ‘gateway’ to the very beautiful Yorkshire.

Plus, cruise passengers also apparently spend an average of £120 at each place they visit.

That’s an awful lot of fish and chips

Brilliant opportunity for us however to hop on a boat and explore the world. I’m all for it.

I love reading about a story and seeing someone trying to make good if it (and for once it doesn’t involve MP expenses)

In fact, its rather close to home – an island in the River Ouse near Goole that is up for sale.

I first came across this in the Yorkshire Post, but it’s the property agent (Savills) that made me laugh with this quote:

“Privately-owned river islands are very rare and this sale offers the opportunity for a purchaser with imagination to create their own island retreat at an affordable price. Hook Island in an accessible location within 3 miles of Junction 37 of the M62. You could get your own little boat and row across to Hook. It would be a great getaway.”

I might be the only one who finds this funny – who knows – but can we just clarify… it’s a 19 acre, muddy island, which no one can get to, you have to watch out for high tide, you need planning permission to do anything to it, and it’s only accessible by boat. Oh, and is a staggering £100k.

A “great getaway”??! I think not. It would be a much better strategy to look at houses for sale in Hull, at least you’d stay warm and dry

I’m banging a particular drum again this week, about how we always seem to be at the bottom of league tables, surveys and labelled as the “worst place to live”

I came across Country Life magazine earlier this week, which has ranked East Yorkshire as the worse country in England. They compiled a list of the 40 counties and rated them from the best (Devon) to the worst (us), and then put everyone else somewhere in between.

To be fair, it’s quite a comprehensive list they’ve put together, getting data from the CPRE, the Met Office, Defra and Natural England to name but a few. They’ve also included figures like rates of recycling, property prices, successful pubs and top schools. They even consult the entries from ‘Who’s Who’.

The good news is, we did well on “light pollution” and “tranquility”, as well as the “arts” and our “green” credentials, although obviously not enough to pull us up from the last spot.

But someone has to prop up the bottom, don’t they? And I take pride in being able to offer a peaceful, tranquil environmentally sound setting, in which to enjoy a spot of culture and art… (although not heritage, we didn’t do so well on that front either).

While I can understand the fuss made about Google Street maps from a privacy point of view, it’s still rather amazing to get such stunningly clear photos on a street level.

I’m actually more inclined to kick up a fuss about Google’s choice of location. I mean, understandably, it takes time to film the whole of the country and you have to prioritise some places over others. But for Google to choose 25 top cities and not include Hull in the list is simply unbelievable!

Especially, when you see the cities that made the final cut:

1. London
2. Edinburgh
3. Leeds
4. Bradford
5. Cambridge
6. Cardiff
7. Belfast
8. Birmingham
9. Manchester
10. Liverpool
11. Oxford
12. Sheffield
13. Nottingham
14. Derby
15. Bristol
16. Coventry
17. Glasgow
18. Aberdeen
19. Swansea
20. York
21. Newcastle
22. Dundee
23. Southampton
24. Norwich
25. Scunthorpe

Disgraceful.

A quote from the Yorkshire Post on Tuesday:

“People in Hull are a romantic bunch – and that’s official”

It reports that a survey, carried out by Flying Flowers, suggests we are actually old romantics at heart as people in Hull send more bunches of flowers than anyone else in the country on Valentine’s Day.

We are also one of the top areas in the country in terms of the amount we spend in florists in Hull - although we have to share the top spot with our Yorkshire colleague, Bradford.

So, it seems the credit crunch hasn’t affected our sense of romanticism just yet then. I try and avoid buying into the whole Valentine’s Day marketing ploy, although that doesn’t stop me wishing that I won’t be able to get out the door in the morning because of the vast amount of cards I have received… (sigh).

Interesting article on the Yorkshire Business Desk this week about Hull trying to escape the economic downturn.

They interviewed Hull Forward’s Chief Executive – John Holmes – about how he sees the City growing and developing over the coming years.

 It almost makes Hull sound exciting:

“The £200m St Stephen’s shopping centre is complete and busy, apartments blocks line the banks of the marina and offices…Future developments include the development of Quay West, which will create a retail area employing 3,000 people; redevelopment of the Fruit Market into an area boasting bars, shops, boutique hotels and workspace; and the second phase of Humber Quays, Hull’s waterfront business and international trade district.”

According to John Holmes, there is a real sense of optimism and he is confident that a masterplan, which will see £1.5bn invested into Hull, will become reality. It’s a long term vision however, but Mr Holmes doesn’t believe panic buttons should be pressed given the slow down in the property and financial sectors.

The sentence that made me smile the most though;

“..the ever enthusiastic Mr Holmes denies that Hull’s geographical location has hindered its prospects either historically or today. ‘It’s on the route from St Petersburg to Liverpool.’ he says.”

Wasn’t it Peter the Great that called St Petersburg “the Window to the West”? I wonder if he realised that meant looking straight into the heart of Hull?

I feel as though I’ve lost the plot a little.

Did anyone else see the news last week about the Icelandic appeal? They have sent over a 20ft container filled with jumpers so our pensioners in Hull could keep warm in the chilly winter months

Whilst it’s obviously a huge act of kindness from Iceland – and we are being treated to unique Icelandic wool – I was amazed that this filled the crucial 7.35 – 7.40am time slot on the BBC news.

Secondly, why Hull? I didn’t quite understand that bit. Other than it’s the first City you reach once the jumpers were dropped off at the docks perhaps?

Apparently the appeal started on a radio station in Iceland after warnings that one in 12 pensioners could die this winter in the UK. Age Concern have also said that many pensioners in Hull were in “financial deprivation”.

After the snow flurry today, it certainly feels like jumper time, and what lovely jumpers they are