The town became a city in 1897 with the Royal Charter of Queen Victoria, and nowadays the population is around 300,000. It has become a thriving industrial area, both the derelict docks and the old town over the last 20 years have been given fresh life and out of this we have some stunning new areas to show Kingston upon Hull at its best. It has excellent shopping areas, parks, an art gallery, museums, theatres and a marina.
 Hull has a long maritime history the evidence of which you can see at the waterfront and the old town. There are cobbled narrow lanes, historic architecture, old inns, preserved warehouses some formal gardens and wonderful views of the Humber waterway giving plenty of interest for visitors. Two of Hull's historic docks form the marina with plenty of yachts and other boats moored.



The Marina has been built in what used to be the Humber and the Railway docks and it has helped to bring life and good times to the Hull waterfront again. You can look at all the different types of sailing ships, the motorised yachts and the traditional sailing boats as you walk around or sit and have a drink.


One of the regular annual occurrences was the flooding of the town due to the high and spring tides and so a tidal surge barrier was built and completed in April 1980. The barrier is over 100 feet high and lowered across the width of the River Hull when dangerous tides threaten.       This picture was taken from Victoria Pier facing the mouth of the River Hull.
To the right of the barrier you can see the scaffolding of the new attraction The Deep which opened in March 2002 and is Europe's deepest aquarium, containing 2.5 million litres of water and 87 tonnes of salt. This is a combination of the World Ocean Discovery Centre, which will research and investigate all the oceans and seas on the planet, and with tourist facilities which includes riding in the worlds only underwater lift surrounded by Sharks, Moray Eels, Hog fish and many other sea creatures.



Victoria Pier is an attractive area on the waterfront with great all round views of the River Humber. It also has a small landing stage which was used for the Humber ferry to travel to New Holland on the south bank before the Humber Bridge was built. Picture taken at low tide looking out into the Humber.


This shows a view eastward of Queens Gardens which again has come about by making use of the old Queens Dock. It is now a great splash of colour in the centre of the city with it's trees, flower beds, duck ponds with fountains.
During the summer months often used for festivals and live band performances. In the distance you can see Hull College and in front of it the 100 foot (30 metre) high monument to William Wilberforce.