Exploring Hull reveals its hidden treasures, and there's no denying that its recognition as the City of Culture has catapulted it onto the global stage, sparking investment and well-deserved acknowledgment. With thoughtful design, the remaining shops in Prospect Centre could rejuvenate the high street vibe. Moreover, envisioning the transformation of Prospect Centre, including the iconic landmarks like the old Debenhams, British Heart Foundation, and Circus Circus, could elevate it to stand alongside the thriving St Stephen’s Centre with the right infusion of investment. It's crucial to maintain the momentum of initiatives geared towards revitalizing the Old Town, while the plans to entice bars and eateries to Princess Quay hold promise for further enhancing Hull's charm and appeal.

Nice tour in Hull, there are so many interesting historic and modern building to visit 👍61

You completely missed the best part of Hull, Old Hull. The High Street with it's William Wilberforce, Hull & East Riding & Street Life Museums. Plus a number of great old pubs, The Old Black Boy & The Olde White Hart, just to name two. Also The Deep aquarium & a walk along the old docks seawall. And the freshly renovated area of Humber Dock Street & the other great arcade, Paragon Arcade. You need to come back !

Honestly Princes Quay used to be utterly bustling The Old Town is amazing Hull is honestly a fantastic place with amazing people I really loved the place

Wow. Incredible 😍 Initially I felt like 360 degree views. Captured so good

Hello Jill and Nick 👋. It’s really sad but all over the world struggling a lot. Hoping that everything will be on the track step by step 🙏🏻. Thank you 🙏🏻 for sharing. Have a great weekend 👍🙏🏻❤️.

Hi Nick and Jill. So sad to see cities around the world, with shops closed and boarded up. It's exactly the same here in Australia, and it doesn't look like improving anytime soon. Thanks so much for sharing.

Happening all over the US too, Nick and Jill. Only a few cities have avoided it. The Kingston Tavern looked beautiful and it seems someone should be able to give it a go. Some nice museums and venues. With some right ideas and not heavy regulation and tax burden working against it, it should be able to rebound! Loved the street art and the 🦆🦆🦆too! Thought provoking video.

Hi Nick another interesting one about town and city centres closing bit by bit. Shame to hear of how Hull was the city of culture and now its sad to hear that shops are closing. Good that the museum is open though a and that there are art galleries to visit and a good price to Park . 🙂 Loved the chattering ducks 🦆😃 ~ Anna 👍

I visited Hull back in 1990 for a Uni interview. It was a pretty grim place back then. From watching this video and Steve's visit (A tramp in the hills) I can see there is plenty to see and do in Hull. What happens to the high street is something that needs to be addressed at a national level with some legislation for government/councils to take back properties and repurpose areas. Another good video Nick.

Hi Nick and Jill! I'm glad to hear that the city's arts and culture scene is thriving. The arts are so important. However, it was very sad to see the devastating impact on the retail sector. The High Street looked like a ghost town. I really miss Debenhams, in particular. Nice to see that St. Stephens was doing well. Great to see good old HMV has managed to survive thanks to a takeover. The Arcade looked like a very attractive area to shop. Cool street art. Thanks for this interesting and well-researched video. Best wishes to you both ~ Julie & Lucy 😊😊

Someone had suggested here that as long as the properties are still owned and property taxes being paid, local governments are shying away from stepping in and doing anything as it may mean a lose of income for them. Just seems like some sort of re-use of spaces would take priority though. But maybe in a couple of years things will begin a great turnaround all over...and maybe that is what is being held out and waiting for...better days ahead. Indeed, isn't it an amazing feeling walking in to a shop and seeing all those vinyl records...sure brings back a lot of memories!! Keep up the great explores!!

Hello Nick and Jill 👋 Thanks for showing 😊

Amazing museums/art galleries and amazing they are free as well, shame you were not allowed to film inside but what a depressing contrast the shopping was in the city centre. The world is changing and (imo) not for the better but fair play to Saint Stephens they must be doing something right. You could not be robbed for a cinema seat mind, something we enjoy doing, especially on am afternoon when it is nice and quiet. I remember being so excited when I was a kid, getting on the bus to Darlington with my pay burning a hole in my pocket, shopping for records, books and clothes but just like most other people I do all my shopping on Amazon now, guess I am part of the problem. Wow £8 to park all week in the city centre, you cannot say fairer than that and the Humber Bridge is worth a visit just to dive over and back, it looks amazing, cheers Alan

I wish I'd seen some of the places you showed. Last time I was in Hull I only saw the railway station, two pubs and Primark. Hope I see more wonderful stuff like this soon ❤️

The city is beautiful with its unique architecture. I hope things will get better in the future.

Hello Nick and Jill, it is so sad that all of these shops are closing. Loved Wilko"s and Debenhams. Nice that St Stephens full of the shops that werre closed on the high street. The Kingston Tavern looked as if it had been a lovely pub. Loved the ceiling in the vintage arcade. Ha ha loved the ducks ha ha x have you been talking to Adzey ? Thank you for sharing, have a lovely weekend x Julie and Tony x

The streets are the same in every town/city up and down the country...we love a visit to Hull, it's a fantastic place for a day out...when you go back , go in summer and visit the Queens Gardens, it will blow you away.

There are a few closed shops in the town, that I live in, but that's nothing compared to the amount of closed shops in your video. Even though I'm watching the video, it's still hard to believe, that this is real. It's so sad to see, that so many shops have been closed and some of them for a very long time. Wow, the street art looks amazing, it's so colourful. I hope you'll have a great weekend.

I visited Hull a few years ago and found it a bit of a mixed bag, as you highlighted, a lot of boarded up/empty areas but also lots of historic buildings and nice waterfront. £2 parking and free attractions is a winner! Great place for the outro with the Humber Bridge in the background! If you go back to vlog there I'd recommend checking out the Lord Line Building which has been derelict for decades. Great content guys and I see this video getting lots of views! ❤

Great work on the presenting Nick .. I have only ever been to Hull once and that was just to visit the Deep aquarium 🐠 which I thought was very good they showcased a lot of great conservation projects they have been involved with around the world 🐢 🦈

It's so sad. Wow even charities are unable to keep units open and they lag a fraction of the price of retail. So many of these spaces could be repurposed. I saw a few units there that would have made good dance studios, but no small business would ever be able to afford the rental or business rates. I thought if you guys at the weekend. I went to Ellsmere Port!! I'll say no more, but there's material there for you! That old arcade is gorgeous. Great street art - There's a lot in Hull! Great job of showing that. Cheers 🍻

'Moved, as if by design'. I think you hit the nail on the head. Are these high rates designed to squeeze shops into designated areas. I think you are right. Either make them residential or demolish and make green spaces. Sad to see. Thanks for sharing.

Great exploration of Hull's urban landscape! Nick & Jill, you not only highlights the closed shops and vacant units but also celebrates the vibrancy and potential of this city. It's inspiring to see initiatives like the art initiatives utilizing abandoned spaces. This is the same story for the trendy neighborhoods of New York. The economy changes and industry falls, over time artists can afford to move in and then it becomes trendy... and the artist can't afford to be there anymore but the area lives on thanks to them. Let's hope for continued efforts and innovative solutions to breathe new life into Hull's High Street. Kudos to you guys for shedding light on both the challenges and the promise of the area. Keep up the great work! 🌟

How blooming depressing 🥺 Hull has such beautiful buildings, yet is like a ghost town. Shame that tavern has been closed for 20 years 😳. On a positive note that Victorian arcade was a bonus. Loved it once again 👍❤️

💯 Very interesting. I've been to Hull a couple of times but never spent long exploring. All the best 😃👍

I absolutely love going into Hull, the Transport Museum is one of my favourite places to go which is in the Old Town, and then the Museum with the Woolley Mammoth is amazing, and as you said Mark, ALL FREE. You also have The Deep, just so much to see and do to be honest.👍🏼Having the train station also gives you access to places like York, Scarborough Pickering, Whitby all within a short train journey. So many positive things about Hull but unfortunately it seems as though only the negative side gets promoted .

Such a shame the city centre is so forgotten 😢 Agree time to repurpose these place Nick ( the arcade was most impressive) Interesting watch ATB Simon

The city at it center has some beautiful buildings! What a shame to see so many places closed. I am someone who enjoys shopping in person, so it's sad to see it.

Hi guys anothergreat hard hitting vlog .iv always liked hull stayed there alot on a away day watching brighton playing hull i always made a weekend of it

Excellent video, Nick! 👍👍

I can't believe how many years some of these places have been empty! And Debenhams is sad to see go 😩

Hi guys an interesting video. Certainly makes you think. At least St Stephens was a success. We have only been to Hull once for a gig which was great but didn't have chance to look around the city. The vintage arcade was amazing reminds us of the one in Cardiff. Thanks for sharing. Hope you have a great weekend Best wishes Dave and Dawn ❤️

Makes me a little sad! I lived in Hull in the 90’s, culturally it was amazing. It was riddled with amazing night clubs Room The Welly Spiders Various live music venues Hull truck cinema Art and culture was valued I loved the spirt of the place Regarding retail I couldn’t believe what had become of The Princes Quay shopping centre

So sad to see Hull all boarded up. So many empty shops. I am seeing this also in some of the big cities in the US. Such a beautiful historic city. Queen Victoria square looked amazing. Thanks for showing us around and all the information.

Great video guys there are 3 other museums which are free and the William Wilberforce has had a big refit. Got a soft spot for Hull

Absolutely wonderful town. Amazing video. Thank you so much for sharing with us. Lot’s of love from Switzerland ❤❤

wow excellent sharing. ❤️💚💙👌👍👌👍👌💚💙

Another brilliant vid Nick. So thought provoking. Goodness knows how places like Hull can ever recover the High Street. Planning failures across the country have caused this. The Retail Parks rule (unfortunately). Central Funding is being reduced so Council Tax and rates go up Public Services dying No idea what the answer is mate. Feels like it’s all too late whatever they try and do. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I was born & raised in Hull, unfortunately the mass closure of all these businesses is due to most people buying online, trying to compete with the likes of amazon & other big dogs a like is mission impossible, also these lockdowns didn't help, just made people more house bound & introverted forcing people to shop online, the best bet to get them retail units filled up again would be to just scrap the rates for the time been or at least offer a rate free period of at least 3 years, the trouble is most of these premises or owned by dinosaurs & there perspective is where still in the 70's, the prices of some those retail units are a £1000 per week minus the rates, its all greed mixed with narcissism, to support your local economy try to shop local instead of supporting people overseas who don't care for our country or city.

Interesting that St Stephens mall is doing so well. Good for them 👍

sacking 90% of the council would save the city a LOT of money.

Not half as bad as it looks here, there's more happening now than ever before, quite literally.

Hull City Centre, City of Culture. We must wake up to the fact that the city centre is evolving, changing and morphing into decline. People buy on line, Amazon delivers on the same day, no need to mix with annoying JBP. I predict in 30 years time (I’ll be 105), that there will be very few shopping centres around. Companies can’t afford the huge rents and financial outlay to pay staff etc. The massive building once occupied by Debenhams in my city centre is now a Range store (can’t see them lasting here). God bless St Stephen’s, the patron St of the shopping mail. Great under cover filming. Night time economy? JBP simply want to stay indoors on a cold wet rainy night, not head out to a bloody shopping centre. Great graffiti on the walls and I was so glad to see a large Costa outlet, what more do you need?

I LOVE vintage arcades!❤

I been to Hull many times, as my sister, brother in law and my niece live up there. we also went with school years ago to see the Humber Bridge

A fair review, alot you didn't see or show so maybe a next time , welcome to Hull 😊

Interesting your video presentation! Congratulations for your work! Have a beautiful weekend! ❤

Wow it's amazing how malls have done this. Amazing city of culture. People move on from those experiences But we need to keep some old world charm. Thanks for the tour. Have a great week .

Great views , great energy

It’s makes me sad to see how things are closed. Once a thriving place full of memories are vacant and boarded up. It’s a lovely looking town! Thanks for putting such a effort to make people aware. 👍😊🇨🇦

Sad to see all those places that have been closed. So I hope it will change in future.

5:14 The prospect shopping centre had an upstairs accessible via escalator and a lift, there were several eateries, all of which seemed to close during the peak of covid, but even before then it was desolate up there.

Nice presentation of the city of Culture in 2024. I also like the narration. 👍

It really is so sad what is happening to our big cities. Such a shame but does sound like Hull has a few interesting ideas. Hopefully they are more than ideas and they do infact do something.

Brilliant guys , thanks for doing the content...loved it ,,, and I am also hopeful for Hull at some point in the future , but I'm not holding my breath ,,, not with these saps called politicians LOL 🤣. , or basically local authority LOL 🤣. Stay safe and stay sound 👍😎✌️🦈.

Thanks for sharing this - really interesting! The situation is not unlike my hometown of Newport South Wales which was once thriving. Strangely enough Cwmbran just up the road is doing really well. It looks like one one the problems in Hull is too many shopping centres. Really enjoyed it thank you for sharing. Mike, Elaine, Samuel and Thomas 😎😍👬

Well Hull centre has certainly seen better days that's for sure. It looks like way too many shuttered shops. The councils have some of this to answer for with having increased business rates in the centre and cheaper for those biggies on the retail park. The Kingston Tavern looked in good nick considering it's been shut for 20 years. The Princess centre looked a bit tired to me, especially outisde, so hope if they do get those evening activity places it's gets a bit of face lift too. The retro arcade looked as though it wouldn't be out of place in London. Some cool street art...The Government Hates You! I hope these high streets see a revival of some kind soon 👍

I was a student at Hull University late 70s early 80s and l now live in Singapore. In Singapore nearly all our shops are in giant malls. We also have huge food courts that you rarely see in Europe. Perhaps this is something that could work in Hull.

She's taken a battering this island of ours... something has to change and soon.😢

Like 160, Awesome footage capturing the beautiful alluring scenery, thanks for sharing and bringing us to this wonderful relaxing place and stay safe always.

This was really interesting to see. I've never been to Hull. Sad to see so many places abandoned. 😊👍

Hi Nick and Jill Hope you are both well 😊 Hull is our nearest city so know it well. It's such a shame about Hull, we've lost all the major department stores from the city centre. Whitefrigate was once so busy, such a loss losing M&S Looking forward to the Maritime museum re opening It's good that all the museums are free to visit. Plenty of places to eat in St Stephens too. Princes Quay shopping centre doesn't have hardly any shops now. In the 90' it was so popular. Thanks for such a great video, we really enjoyed it. 😊 Next time you visit, have a walk around Humber Street and the marina, some great places to eat and drink. Hope you are having a good weekend 😊

this gives a lot to think about. we have a lot of empty retail here too and there's a bit of grant money too. good to see there's some spots still doing well. there are some beautiful buildings, and there seem to be a lot of shopping centers still. and you know i love street art! is "high street" what is often named "main street" in small towns here in the us? or is it the city center? as it didn't seem like a single street, but an area. did hull stop being the city of culture because of the pandemic? why is it coventry now? or am i completely misunderstanding "city of culture?" apparently i'm a curious lady today. 😬 have a great weekend jill & nick! 🛴❤

"Your government hates you" felt so depressingly apt after watching this video. What struck me about this video in particular having been very interested in all of your videos on this topic, is the way you drew out how long some of these spaces have actually been vacant for. Many you spotlighted were 2018, 2019 or even earlier (the pub left vacant for 20 years!). That so clearly demonstrates this isn't an issue that our current powers that be can put in the 'COVID caused it' bucket. It also demonstrates just how unattractive it is to investors to put money into these high street spaces or how the costs are so prohibitive many cannot afford to invest even with a huge chunk of the high street at their disposal. I was curious what time you were visiting too as it just felt so quiet. It will be interesting to see how this topic features in the upcoming election whenever that may be, or if it just gets lots in the noise of tactical political panics designed to distract us all from the very stark economic reality that is literally under our noses. UGH. Thank you both for another very thought-provoking and well researched video. Nick and Jill for PM!

It's so sad and it happen everytime and everywhere. Since Covid, war in Ukraine and more, many places turn to ghost place cause of all high costs. And bigger bussinesses are only intrested gaining money for share holders. I wish we at least could turn those to mybe better places for everyone and mybe even living places for people with not much money. Wow... That's cheap watch a movie! Here it costs 4 times that prize! I hope time change soon, so we don't get that much empty places wasted. Thanks for showing. Have a fabulous weekend 🦇🖤🖤🖤🖤🦇

Very nice video my friends Nick and Jill , beautiful place, how sad it is abandoned have a great week 😃

How sad to see so many shops empty. Where are people shopping? Are they purchasing things on line? How do they get more retailers to open up new stores? HMV great news helping the community out! 15:03 stunning Victorian shopping arcade. I think the Ducks got it right, "we are buying everything online!". Great Vlog Nicholas. Thank you for taking us along. Have a great week.

Nice museum & Art Gallery in Victoria Square Shame the town is left behind sad state of affairs nowadays. So many nice buildings left to decay and empty shops & Shopping center's , nightclubs, etc. It's happening all over the UK, sadly. Oops told off for filming 🤣 Cinema was cheap. Shocked too see so many empty. Some here are already getting made into residential. Cool street art graffiti cute duck 😂😂 Thanks for showing us around Hull Generation Xplorers Good video 👍

The Kingston cavern , wow 😮

Watching now 👍

Nick, thanks for the tour. It's sad to see so many places boarded up and forgotten. What a waste.

HMV sound 👍😎✌️ , that takes me back.

amazing, well done and thumbs up 👍💥🎈

Just visited on Friday evening; Symptomatic of decaying infrastructure across UK. Mass immigration. ganja smells; crackheads; spice boys spasming about on benches. Great old town and pubs where the locals were hanging on to the remains of their culture. Very sad to see... RIP Hull

awesome & well done 👍💥🎈

I lived in hull 2014 2017 still connected daughters dad lives there born and bred taxi driver I’m from Leeds I found when I lived there It’s so flat no views I would go out for a bus and not know which side of road to be on or direction I was going in Streets seem so so long compared to Leeds But I felt safe there the city McDonald’s in the city knew me and my regular order that would never happen in Leeds I enjoyed the closeness community and history Also coming from Leeds if I can say this and I’ve visited recently It’s still a very Yorkshire place as in Mostly white British people if I’m allowed to say that that’s what I find it’s nice because it’s close to the coast I like hull very different from Leeds which is just an hour away a city but yet feels more country

Beautiful place my friend ❤️

I remember when me and my parents went to Cancun, Mexico in 2009 to a shopping centre had a number of shops, 2011 we went back to Cancun for a holiday same shopping centre a lot of close shops . I remember when Princes Quay, Hull had a number of shops in. I like visiting Hull minster, but have never been to the Deep, school never took us

Another excellent Boarded up video Nick. Always so sad to see towns and cities like this in such a bad state. Unfortunately it's now happening across the country and every city is like this. Would be more useful to have the shops used for good instead of laying their derelict and destroyed, it paints an awful picture for those wanting to spend their hard earned money there and why would they? Thank you though Nick, for sharing and educating us! xx

Hi Nick and Jill Thank you for being an advocate to express the issues this city holds. I am not aware of the economy situation in the UK. It is not only this city, but there is a global problem. Malls in the US are failing and so far are turning into Outlet shopping mall(discounted) A question is where are the consumers are.... we cannot deny online shopping grows and retailers started stunk. I am absolutely favor of the idea of repurpose. I am not sure about building codes, but hopefully....there will be silver lining. How the city make such museum attractive to visitors??? Maybe hotels? I don't think bringing back a few shops into mall is realistic as a solution. It has to be a complete project subjected for the entire area, I reckon. You, two Rock!! You nailed it! HAPPY NATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY.

Love this video ,as I do all of these ,don’t think people realise amount work you both put in . Here is my take ,sorry it’s long. First it started with the rise of the supermarket,then covid ,then Putin . But what alot are forgetting is human nature ,I used to live in a small village ,had lovely local shop and bus 🚌 to town ,all gone why?because nobody bothered 😕 to use them!! Like communism it would never work ,because someone would always want more than the other !.I used to hate Margret thatcher,and go help the miners ,and the fact she sold all the council house 🏡 stock,is the reason of many of londons decline.but the biggest reason is mp s now days in this cancel culture we live in aka like my fav author ✍️ George Orwell,our society is Orwellian now =1984 . I never thought I say this ,we need people like thatcher Who actually care with a passion about this country .but anyone with a backbone is cancelled,you just have to look 👀 at the scenes in parliament we’re MPs too scared 😱 to vote 🗳️. When I am well if I can ,I be selling my house 🏡 and moving to France 🇫🇷,as sadly with people like kier starmer who went against the public vote ,are leader of labour ??. Brexit the MPs lied 🤥,show me one mp that tells the truth ?? Sorry for long comment,love the fact you do these videos,always a fan phil ps forgot to add plus the rise of Amazon.

Bro you should gone to the old town and marina, its nicest place, humberstreet is beaut. :)

I'm not sure what your point is. Hull has dozens of empty shops and the city centre is a dead duck but so is every city centre in the country. You are not coming up with any incisive revelations here. You would have been better off taking a look at the Levelling-Up Fund that is being massively misused in Hull City Centre. Basically , rich investors are buying up the best properties at a low price then drawing up schemes to enhance or re-develop them with the aid of immense cash grants from the fund. All they have to do is produce quotes for the work and the council chips in half the dough. When you analyse the costings it starts to look very dodgy to say the least. Besides, is that what the Levelling-Up Fund is really supposed to be for? We were under the impression it was going to bring us better transport and infrastructure in line with more prosperous parts of the country. Silly us.

This is sad that outskirts shopping malls sucked life from city centers. I wonder if it will be possible to reverse this trend.

Did you get chance to go down Paragon Arcade during your visit? It is just off the high street. Its thriving with local restaurants and the odd shop

Hull definitely was vibrant in the past. It's such a shame seeing all these shops closed and still closed after the pandemic has loosened its reins. Hopefully things get revitalized.

That bridge almost looked like the Brooklyn one! Shame what became of the place with all the abandonment. Seems that is going on everywhere these days. I think you should take the Duck's advice at the end LOL

I agree with trying to re-use the empty retail spaces - but residential? We all know what that means. One word - ghetto.

Street art is a nice contribution. Not normally a good sign of retail vitality perhaps the begining of an art scene Hull has a ways to go to regain its glory Retail stores alone is not normally the answer Just waiting to be the phoenix reborn from the ashes It does happen! 👍 Cheer Nick and all the best

Looks a bit scary actually, in recent years, it seems that as a society we are regressing more and more. In every sense of the word, this video of yours, as well as some previous ones on similar topics that you filmed, confirm that.

Hull marina Humber street is well worth visiting during the summer it’s very lush

What a beautiful town this must have been in its day...I do believe this is happening all over the place...and it's a sad world we live in...so many retail stores closed down....we all blame the pandemic, which probably didn't make it any better because we all hadn't a choice then but to revert to online shopping but it was happening before that...you sound optimistic about it turning around with the theater charging $4.99 and opening at night and it still has all the arts in the area. I hope it does, because it's just so sad that we are becoming a bunch of people stuck behind our screens...needing to get out and live and shop and enjoy life a little more!

Window art in Bradford also, i've always said that cities follow each other with their idea's.

Everywhere devastated in such a few short years, there is a direct correlation between this, GDP per capita and 1997 policy changes.

Beautiful sharing friend 🫶❤👍💕💙👍💗🦋..

I’ve just been to Hull, i was amazed how there were fines and charges for so much stuff…

Oh goodness! 😮 To go from a city of culture to a boarded up high street wasteland... so sad!

Great content but sad to see the demise even in the 3 and a half years ago I left after 50 plus years there the last 12 living on Hull marina , things can change for a city as I have witnessed in the place I live now ' Malaga Spain' for years there were many no go areas in and around the city of Malaga but after much investment and repurposing the place is buzzing with barely an empty unit , so it can be done granted tourism plays a big part and is a huge draw .

good evening nick and jilll. is jill your camera lady, nick? are any of these abandoned buildings haunted, nick? have a good weekend mates. hopefully i willl get some good pictures tomorrow, so i can email them to you. we are going to the aquarium tomorrow. have a good weekend.