History of Hull: Parks - The Zoological Gardens

Рет қаралды 10,764

Күн бұрын

A new series taking a detailed look at the history of Hull's parks - and where better to start during this lockdown than with a park I don't need to visit to film because it doesn't exist any more! This episode looks into Hull's Zoological Gardens, open from 1840 to 1861!
The whole episode is adapted from a superb booklet that was made by a pair of historians at the Hull History Centre, Claire Weatherall (who you might remember from History of Hull: Docks episode 2 where she talked about whaling) and Verity Minniti called The Zoo on the Avenue: A history of the Hull Zoological Gardens 1840-1861) which can be found here;
www.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/w...
If this episode sparks your interest, I strongly recommend checking it out; it's not only methodically researched and detailed, but also a very good read!
And Hull History Centre themselves have done a modern commemoration of the Zoological Gardens with their Woolly Zoo, an exhibit that was made entirely of stuffed woollen animals! The link for that is here;
www.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/w...
If you're anything like me, viewing historical Ordnance Survey maps side by side with modern satellite views will certainly eat up far too much of your time!
maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/index...
For more info and updates, please follow me on Twitter
/ hullhistorynerd
and Instagram
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and Facebook!
/ hullhistorynerd
And if you enjoyed this video, please consider visiting my Patreon page and becoming a patron to help me make these videos faster and with better gear!
/ hullhistorynerd
Or make a one-off donation to the Support Hull History Nerd fundraiser if you don't want to commit to monthly patronage - any donations are welcome, from the price of a coffee to the price of a new camera! It all helps me make ends meet so I can devote more time to making these videos and less to 'normal' work!
www.gofundme.com/f/hull-histo...
If you enjoy the music, please consider checking out the artist's channel at
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Пікірлер: 89

@MrJohntheHarp 5 күн бұрын

I used to go to the 'zoo; pub as I remember, Iam just an old folkie who played for years the song 'Zoological gardens' (so I said to me mot etc etc lol) Thank you for this Mr. H. Nerd!

@poshbird600 5 ай бұрын

I did not know that Hull had a zoological garden. Brilliant video..... Thank you..... Glen.... 😮😮😮😮😮

@ggmtv1394 2 жыл бұрын

I now discover that when I moved to Hull in 1969. it was into a B&B on the site of the Gardens!

@johnraggett7147 3 жыл бұрын

Dear Mr. Nerd, greetings from Leipzig. Thank you for another interesting post. Looking forward to the one about Beverley.

@hullhistorynerd 3 жыл бұрын

I think there's going to be a whole series on Beverley, there's just so much to look at there! Lots of fascinating history right back to the middle ages, lots of which is still magnificently still on display!

@charliehaite579 3 жыл бұрын

Amazing! Didnt realise such awesome history was on my door step. Keep it up!

@reecevr46moore21 3 жыл бұрын

brilliant as always ps my first house was no 1 flamborough ave middleton st. same as you we had water under the floor boards .we tried bailing it out ,but the level stayed the same. my wifes father worked at the water board,soo he took a sample to have it tested. the results were as you said. take care, brian

@HullEastYorkshire 3 жыл бұрын

Why did the elephant cross the road, because he’d seen the gingerbread man, well I thought it was funny......😉 if only we could go back in time I’d love a walk around this exotic Hull park. Love all your videos, keep up the good work 😍

@petermoll8309 2 жыл бұрын

Just watching back on this one, and already have my misunderstanding of parks dispelled. Great video , even better (?) jokes....

@alans3330 3 жыл бұрын

Brilliant video, not only about the Zoological Gardens, but also about the area of Spring Bank. How about the Botanical Gardens? That would be an interesting one!

@hullhistorynerd 3 жыл бұрын

That's the next episode in the Parks series!

@misskittysmith 3 жыл бұрын

Wonderful to see all those old artefacts from the gardens. Well made video HHN thankyou!

@markrobert6028 2 жыл бұрын

I lived on Cranbourne Street next door to what is now (and was then) the Mosque. Always wondered why that area seemed to be almost enclosed in its own little rectangle from the rest of Spring Bank. Guess that's why none of the houses around there have cellars!

@grahambaldwin9801 Жыл бұрын

It was a Mormon Church. Next door was an old disused builder's yard where your house is. My parents house in Dover street had a cellar about 10 feet deep but at the bottom of the stairs there was only enough room to stand in.

@tedthesailor172 6 ай бұрын

A firework display in a zoo - I wonder what genius thought that one up...

@simonalexander9290 3 жыл бұрын

Fantastic film.

@1973thebigd 3 жыл бұрын

nice to see ya back great vid as always

@jackturnbull3719 3 жыл бұрын

Brilliant video, as always. I have enjoyed many. Like a previous comment has stated, I would be interested in the history of the botanic gardens. Will keep my eye out. I cycle along Spring bank and snuff mill lane every weekday to work and back. The videos have made the journey even more special. Thank you for posting.

@hullhistorynerd 3 жыл бұрын

I'll certainly be getting round to the Botanic Gardens at some point! I think I might have to wait for the History Centre to reopen though, and get some research materials.

@marymary5494 2 жыл бұрын

Fascinating, thank you. 👌💕

@dixie_rekd9601 3 жыл бұрын

oh this series looks good , hope theres an east park episode or two

@hullhistorynerd 3 жыл бұрын

Oh yes. I'm very much looking forward to East Park's episode when everything opens up again! That's going to be a fun one. That was my park when I was growing up!

@dixie_rekd9601 3 жыл бұрын

@@hullhistorynerd yeah it was always my local park too, its been insanely full of people on weekends despite the lockdowns, tbh thats probably one of the reasons theres another lockdown.

@paulbateman63 3 жыл бұрын

As always, excellent, so interesting and it's the way you tell it and explain that makes it so good. Could listen to you all day !! Keep them coming. 👍

@dixie_rekd9601 3 жыл бұрын

the ending was a little sad :( on a more positive note, despite the ending of "sometimes theres nothing left apart from written record" there is now another historical record which could last forever in the form of this video.

@dixie_rekd9601 3 жыл бұрын

@Tate Richard would you kindly please fuck off? :)

@AdventureMe 3 жыл бұрын

Enjoyed that one. Fascinating insight into something with no evidence left behind today.

@hullhistorynerd 3 жыл бұрын

They're usually the ones that get me, they're almost like ghosts of the past. Not a hint of what was once there except in fragments of things like posters and tickets preserved in archives!

@teekrboo 2 жыл бұрын

Very interesting as usual

@peterfreeman6677 3 жыл бұрын

That was excellent. There seems to have been a vogue for such schemes around 1840, because Leeds had its own grandiose plans for a Zoological and Botanical Gardens in Headingley, which opened in1841 and finally closed in 1858 - so the Gardens in Leeds and Hull were pretty much contemporaneous. Hull though did actually manage to acquire enough animals to justify the "Zoological" part, whereas in Headingley they balked at the cost of lions and elephants and eventually - and grudgingly - bought a bear (the Bear Pit is still there, on Cardigan Road). Like Hull, the Headingley Gardens struggled to persuade enough people of the "right sort" to pay its entrance fee, and that sealed its fate; but perhaps unlike Hull there was also prolonged and vocal opposition on religious grounds to opening the Gardens on Sundays - the only day when working people had any leisure time - and there was intense suspicion that allowing in the "lower sort" - among whom might be what were sniffily described as "abandoned females" - would endanger the moral fibre of the respectable middle classes .. was that a problem in Hull as well when the Gardens' opening times were being decided? "See the kind of company into which our youth are likely to be thrown on the afternoon of the Sabbath as a means of improving their morals and cultivating their piety. .." www.headingleyleeds.com/historic-headingley-zoo

@hullhistorynerd 3 жыл бұрын

I didn't see any mention of it, so I'm guessing that it wasn't as big a problem in Hull as it apparently was in Leeds!

@leebryant1973 3 жыл бұрын

Thank u m8 been looking forward to this 1

@fionahope1216 3 жыл бұрын

Ooh yay! I was saying to my family the other day you should do a video on this!! 😁

@hullhistorynerd 3 жыл бұрын

It's certainly been one I've had on the boil for a while now!

@simonyip5978 3 жыл бұрын

It's interesting that the old ordnance survey maps show that the city's outskirts were not completely built up at the same time. The map of Spring Bank shows that there was a lot of undeveloped land in between the new streets. Argyle Street had several smaller streets leading from the main street, but it was almost completely separate from the nearby streets and buildings. Coltman Street and many other streets were the same, still close to the main buildup area but completely surrounded by open land.

@hullhistorynerd 3 жыл бұрын

Indeed, until the 18th century Hull barely had spread outside the old town walls. As covered in the video, Spring Bank wasn't developed until the 1870s and 80s due to the boggy nature of that land caused by the springs that gave it it's name.

@orville3816 3 жыл бұрын

Brilliantly written, thankyou, loved the terrible jokes!!!😂😂

@alanrobertson9790 3 жыл бұрын

Interested in railways more than Hull but you are a good narrator so watched it anyway. Another interesting program.

@hullhistorynerd 3 жыл бұрын

More railway content coming this year, provided we can get out of this whole covid mess!

@Wedgedoow 3 жыл бұрын

Very interesting, my cousin is descended from alderman Henry Hodge 1813-1889. He would maybe have been in charge at the time of the zoo, enjoyed the humour too. Keep em coming.

@hullhistorynerd 3 жыл бұрын

It was open for a good stretch of 21 years, so it's entirely possible!

@NatJ4reform 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this especially as I live in view of the river horse 👍👍👍👏👏👏👏👏

@logotrikes 3 жыл бұрын

I hope you do West Park, History Nerd, my stomping ground as a child. Perhaps you can satisfy a mystery for me. I've looked and then looked some more for some evidence that there was once a miniature steam railway running across the wide expanse of the main park, probably 7 1/2 inch gauge and running diagonally across the park. I remember the trackbed as a child so this would have been early to mid 50''s. I know I remember it, it's not a phantom memory and it's definitely West Park, the only park I ever visited as a child.This memory refuses to budge, yet I can find zero info about it. I've asked the knowledgable folks on "Hull the Good Old Days" and no-one has any memory. There was and probably still is, a model railway system near the old band stand, adjacent to Walton Street. I was invited along, it would have been 2004, to watch a 5 inch 0-6-0 in action. We had driven past the house where it was displayed in the front window and I made the mistake of knocking on the door to enquire about it. The owner insisted we drive to West Park to watch it in steam. We could hardly refuse even though we were on our way somewhere at the time. It was nice to watch, but the wife wasn't best pleased... Speaking of us peasants, you'll notice that the society for the prevention of cruelty to animals has Royal patronage, yet the society for the prevention of cruelty to children is only "National." Me being a dodgy old cynic again....

@hullhistorynerd 3 жыл бұрын

I will certainly be covering West Park! I know that there's still the old model railway in the grounds, but as yet I don't know anything more about it. I look forward to researching it!

@andybailey3888 3 жыл бұрын

Everyone loves a bit of gingerbread right? Thanks for this, my wife and I really look forward to your videos on our fair city's history 👍

@grahambaldwin9801 Жыл бұрын

Well, well..... statues on Albany Street. I never heard any mention of a zoological park in Hull. I thought the name Spring Bank had something to do with primroses and crocuses. Hull was a swamp until it was drained as everybody knows. I was up near Walkington some years ago and from the road could clearly be seen the extent of what must have been the old River Hull delta in the distance. Whitefriargate would flood regularly and at high tide it was said that barrels would float in The George Hotel cellar in Land of Green Ginger.

@angelinegrows7765 3 жыл бұрын

Great video , I’m watching it again 😁

@nickytesla1596 3 жыл бұрын

I remember the zoological pub on the corner of spring bank & Beverly road

@Domina7ion 3 жыл бұрын

Really enjoyed the video. Have you considered having your face in the thumbnail? I've heard it really helps views. I'm going to binge the Hull Railways series now

@williamrobinson7435 3 жыл бұрын

This is just FANTASTIC. I mean, really good, rather than a product of fantasy, not that. Llamageddon and Alpaccalypse though? Watch out, Hull History Nerd; everyone has thier limits, especially people from Beverley..

@carltrillo1876 3 жыл бұрын

Hi mate great series i grew up at number 1 hutt st the main entrance gates to the gardens where between numbers 10 and 11 hutt st

@hullhistorynerd 3 жыл бұрын

Interesting to know, thankyou! It's always interesting how much stuff you learn from residents; I learned from someone who lived down Louis Street, for example, that some of the gardens on the west side of the street still have pieces of the old railway platform from Botanic Gardens station!

@carltrillo1876 3 жыл бұрын

Number 8 is a white building with black beams in theres an archway between that and the green house no 9 nextdoor which we where led to believe as kids was the turnstile entrance . Check it out on google maps

@hullhistorynerd 3 жыл бұрын

@@carltrillo1876 Ah right, I think I know the answer to this one! It wasn't the turnstile, BUT there was a long standing local legend that the black and white house was the original entrance Lodge of the Zoological Gardens, moved brick by brick from near Spring Bank to its present location. In fact it is just one of the earlier houses built on the recently vacated and cleared Zoological Gardens, though it may well have been modelled on the original Lodge!

@chrismccartney8668 2 жыл бұрын

Covid Has proved that we were so short sighted to shut parks and gardens and concrete over everything. We have some large parks which were packed during lockdown and our jewel in the crown Epping Forest was packed and all roads gave been made Red Routes so you couldn't park and all parking is now Expensive Pay and Display but it still packed as we have lost so much open space...

@HullYorkshireMemoriesM.Coldham 3 жыл бұрын

Lhamageddon lol

@hullhistorynerd 3 жыл бұрын

I'm a dad, I can't help with dad jokes. The alpacalypse made me laugh out loud when I first heard it.

@paulbrown1574 3 жыл бұрын

Hahaha i was about to comment on the Alpacalypse or Lhamageddon. Ooooh my sides ache at those two 😂😂😂😂😂

@paulbrown1574 3 жыл бұрын

Brilliant film though, keep them coming.

@WestCountryWino 3 жыл бұрын

@@hullhistorynerd Dad jokes are perfectly excusable, having made many myself.

@paulsilabon2677 3 жыл бұрын

That was very interesting I didn’t know about it before. Have you thought about doing the history of Hull’s workhouses

@hullhistorynerd 3 жыл бұрын

It's certainly another of those subjects that's simmering away there waiting for it's time, so most likely!

@nickytesla1596 3 жыл бұрын

There was a workhouse next to the old Beverly hospital

@KenDay Жыл бұрын

Llamageddon - 😂 I see what you did there 😮

@hullhistorynerd Жыл бұрын

It was that or alpacalypse...

@iangrassby 3 жыл бұрын

i always thought it was where hymers is.

@hullhistorynerd 3 жыл бұрын

That's actually the location of the Botanical Gardens, which I will be covering in a future episode!

@iangrassby 3 жыл бұрын

@@hullhistorynerd will be looking forward to seeing it.. ive seen 5 or 6 of your vids and ive learnt soo much, im 44 and hull born and breed lol

@rwalker9644 3 жыл бұрын

Sounds just the thing we need in Hull now Mr Nerd . A separate enclosure for wayward MP s would keep then at bay or don’t they do them that big lol cheers Rob

@HiltonBenchley 2 жыл бұрын

Is the building down Hutt Street related to the gardens?

@hullhistorynerd 2 жыл бұрын

There are all kinds of urban myths about that house; some say that it was the original lodge, painstakingly moved brick by brick to its current location, but it's far more likely to have just been a house built long after the zoo closed and when Hutt Street was being laid down.

@martingreen5192 3 жыл бұрын

My grandfather used to stop off for a drink in the Polar Bear, and we always getting teased about it. I assume it's still there?

@hullhistorynerd 3 жыл бұрын

It certainly is, it's in the video in the first few minutes!

@martingreen5192 3 жыл бұрын

@@hullhistorynerd wasn't sure if that was old stuff, nice to know in this crazy world there is still something to fall back on

@grahambaldwin9801 Жыл бұрын

@@hullhistorynerd I remember it well. I used to wonder why there were no pubs the length of Prince's Avenue until I was told last year in Nellie's in Beverley that it was because of the strong Quaker and Methodist population of The Avenues.

@jonphillips8069 3 жыл бұрын

I Love the lama joke , classic 👌

@tonywright8294 3 жыл бұрын

Hello , how about the history of some of the ,shall we say more notorious public houses !

@hullhistorynerd 3 жыл бұрын

It's an idea, although my knowledge of the pubs is sketchy at best!

@tonywright8294 3 жыл бұрын

Me to ,but I’m sure if you contacted local radio you would have lots of people with stories. Looking forward to the east park video my favorite park for the last sixty years !

@franwoodward6892 3 жыл бұрын

Dear Mr Nerd Can u tell me ,why wen u make these films of Hessle rd why u always miss out Scarborough str out .please and l love ur stories of my home town thanks M Day.

@hullhistorynerd 3 жыл бұрын

I've not made any films about Hessle Road yet at all so please don't feel that I'm unfairly missing out Scarborough Street!