Child of the Forties
The speaker this week was our programme secretary, John Taylor, who said that he would be happy to be known as a Northcountry man rather than a Yorkshire man, however throughout his talk, ‘A Child Of The Forties’, his admiration, pride and affection for the City and people of Hull was unmistakable.
John spoke of idyllic picnics by the river when a schoolboy and of ice cream whilst watching some of the greats of cricket, Hutton, Bowes etc. at the Hull ground.
Hull, the birthplace of many famous people including William Wilberforce with his anti-slavery bill and Andrew Marvell the metaphysical poet and parliamentarian, was heavily bombed during the blitz of the 1940s, 152,000 people were made homeless, Churchill praised the city but otherwise little is heard of the devastation caused at this time. This and possibly its isolated geographical position on the east coast may have given the people of Hull an unwarranted feeling of being forgotten about or of being overlooked.
George Mountford
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