Scheme hatched to remove hotel
IT happened in October, a month which saw one Hull landmark vanish, a scheme produced to remove a city centre hotel and two local pubs open their doors for the first time.
48 years ago
When it was built in the
1930s it was said to be one of Hull’s finest hotels.
Forty years later The Broadway, on the corner of Brook Street and Ferensway, was well past its best, had stopped taking in guests after failing to meet fire precautions and was in the ownership of developers.
It closed in March 1973 and in October they came up with a plan to demolish the hotel and replace it with a six-floor building. But nothing happened except that vandals managed to gain entry and wreck much of the interior before a decision was taken to turn the ground floor into a shop.
Today the building survives and is now the Propaganda bar and club. But it’s a far cry from those days of long ago when The Broadway was said to be “the last word in commercial comfort”.
It was certainly equipped to meet the claim according to its publicity at the time which told would-be clients: “All bedrooms are radiated with hot and cold running water, writing tables and materials. Delightful bathrooms. Water scientifically softened. Large fire escape. Lifts. Cuisine above
reproach. Fully licensed. Catering for commercial gentlemen a speciality...”
And here were, according to popular rumour, other attractions for “commercial gentlemen” not least being “cuisine above reproach and no extras.”
65 years ago
Glasses were raised in celebration on October 3,1956, as
drinkers welcomed the opening of two new pubs.
One was the Hop Pole on Kingston Road, Willerby, which still survives and remains as popular as ever.
The other was The Railway Hotel in Cottingham, which is just a memory for former locals, having been demolished and replaced by a homes development.
The opening of the Hop Pole, which was first run by Mr and Mrs HW Lane, was the completion of a long-held plan. In 1938 the Burton brewers, Bass, Ratcliff and Gretton Ltd produced a scheme for a licensed house at the corner of Kingston Road and Gorton Road, Willerby. Tenders were obtained and building was about to start when war broke out and the matter was shelved.
The original scheme was amended after the war and again approved by licensing magistrates. The new premises included a car park for about 45 cars.
The Railway was managed by Mr and Mrs HI Crow and replaced the original Railway which was a converted 18th century dwelling house.
The pub contained a lounge, smokeroom and bar, plus living quarters for the manager and his family. Facing Beck Bank was a small off-licence. It was said at the time of opening that “the local authorities are to carry out certain street improvements and when this has been done the new hotel will be seen to better advantage.
“In addition, two cottages lying on the east side of the hotel are eventually to be demolished and this will give a large parking area.”
THEY may have been the butt of jokes, but for hundreds of Hull drivers they were the best thing on the road.
Despite their popularity for some the very name of the popular cars which were seen on every street and dominated the city’s taxi trade brought
ridicule and bad jokes.
The name, Lada, the Russian cars that came into Hull docks in their thousands and despite their image were said to have earned the city more than £10m.
But despite all this, Hull City Council decided enough was enough and introduced rules to try to rid the local roads of private hire Ladas and other saloons, with Councillor Des Montgomery saying the move to introduce black cabs instead would shake Hull’s image of being a “Lada taxi city”.
They may have provided outdated technology and handled like tanks, but for cheap, usually reliable motors they were a big attraction. The average owner was said to be aged around 40, a blue or whitecollar worker and probably a teacher or a doctor buying a second car.
It was in 1974 that the first Ladas were unloaded on Hull docks and over the following 16 years another 300,000 cars and spare parts would come through.
At one point up to eight ships a month arrived in Hull loaded with Ladas, which had made the 2,400-mile journey from the world’s largest car factory at Togliatti on the banks of the Volga. From Hull they were taken by transporter to the Carnaby Industrial Estate near Bridlington, where between
100 and 200 cars a day were dewaxed and modified to suit the UK market.
And not only were they first choice with taxi drivers, but they were once mooted as the patrol car of the future by Humberside Police.