Hull

I am over 700 years old. Originally I was the King's Town and would often be visited by the monarchy. Charle's I was a particular fan.My name has evolved from King's Town to Kingston-Upon-Hull but I am largely refered to as Hull.I grew into a huge port over the years and established myself as a major fishing centre. The fishing industry, over years, very slowly decreased to minimal levels. This was partly caused by the ban on whaling and partly because the European fishing quotas restricting fishing to certain areas of the sea were implemented.However, that was not my downfall. World War II hit me hard. My beautiful, historic and quaint centre containing buildings of many hundreds of years old was obliterated. The resulting re-building in the 50's was bland and cheap and I struggled through the 60's, 70's and 80's with low morale, a lack of self-respect and high unemployment.The 90's was the start of my revival. Despite the decline of the docks, investment was beginning to come in. A huge shopping centre called Prine's Quay was built on one of my old docks - Prince's Dock. Whitefriargate was pedestrianised. The marina was beautified. Restaurants, pubs and cafe-bars sprung up all over the city. The University established itself as a major seat of learning in the UK. St. Andrew's Quay was totally revitalised with an enormous retail park which includes The Pod containing a climbing wall and a fantastically located Starbucks. Oh yeah, and my sports teams started to flourish.Anyway, enough bragging. A fresh wind is blowing off the River Humber and through my streets. Come see for yourself.