‘Hull Maritime will be the real legacy of City of Culture’
AUTHENTIC: The scumble glaze wood effect on Arctic Corsair
Chewing the Fat, out to lunch with Phil Ascough
This week’s guest: Gillian Osgerby
The sight of Bradford beaming its UK City of Culture images and messages around the world was also the predictable trigger for some media to look back at Hull’s year in the spotlight and review what happened next.
We’re finding out now, as work progresses on our next big thing. Of course there will be disruption and criticism – one trader was still harping on in the media about the orange barriers – but that just takes us into the territory of pain and gain, and making omelettes without breaking eggs.
Hull Maritime is another genuine game-changer for Hull. It’s being shaped by the people of the city, not just now but going back generations. It’s providing opportunities for them as well, and for children and grandchildren.
The organisers have done their homework and are excited by a level of public participation which underlines the status of the local authorities as mere custodians.
“I never see it as our project – I see it as a project for Hull,” said Gillian Osgerby, the programme director for Hull Maritime who also holds the significant role of interim assistant director for major projects and infrastructure.
“At the heart of it is community engagement. I am very passionate about how we involve the public in what we are doing.”
Gillian’s wider role is about joining the dots to make sure that heritage and cultural projects support and generate economic activity.
It’s really not difficult to grasp but it was clearly beyond the wit of the orange barriers obsessive so let’s try again. Yes, the barriers caused huge disruption in the build-up to City of Culture but the outcome was a spacious, more accessible public realm which enabled the city centre to welcome crowds of thousands to enjoy – and become an essential part of – some fantastic events.
And after the curtain came down on City of Culture the spaces remained and left us with a permanent platform to present countless other festivals and fun days, pulling more families into the city centre to be entertained and even amazed, and to support our local businesses and the people who work in them.
Two things struck me as I headed off after my chat with Gillian. First I saw a sign warning that work was under way to improve Princes Dock Street. That will mean more space for people to walk and socialise in style and safety. Barrier man will see it as further disruption but it’s more a sign of progress and of good things happening.
Cutting through Zebedee’s Yard my gaze drifted to a family taking selfies by The Last Trip memorial. It’s been there since 2016 and is currently looking for a new home. Wherever it ends up it will forever be a symbol of the importance and appreciation of our city’s maritime heritage.
Born in Scotland and brought up in Lincolnshire, Gillian graduated in geography, worked in regeneration in Birmingham’s jewellery quarter and on major projects around Lincoln Castle and Cathedral. She broadened her knowledge by gaining a Masters in planning and working in regeneration for North East Lincolnshire Council.
PASSION: Gillian Osgerby at Spurn Lightship
In Hull, Gillian managed the Lottery-funded restoration of Pearson Park, the Beverley Road Townscape Heritage Scheme and the National Picture Theatre.
Hull Maritime is next level and beyond. There’s the Spurn Lightship, Guildhall Time Ball, North End Shipyard awaiting the return of the Arctic Corsair, South Blockhouse emerging as a new heritage visitor space, and the Maritime Museum itself with a spectacular new look and an almost endless array of exhibits going on view next year. Connecting them all will be the trail through Queens Gardens, High Street, Humber Street, Humber Dock Street and Princes Dock Street.
On display now are the Sirens exhibitions at the Ferens Art Gallery. Coming soon is the Colliderfest science and arts festival, promising some spectacular shows, activities and performances throughout the city centre from Friday, March 14 to Sunday, March 16.
“Something I am very passionate about is the inter-connectivity of the city centre sites,” said Gillian.
“They all inter-relate and they are all part of the core city centre, and we also have neighbourhood projects in the more peripheral areas of Hull. There’s an incredibly symbiotic relationship between all of these, all adding to the city’s critical mass and the quality of its city centre.”
As we chat over coffee at the Ferens Art Gallery, it’s impossible to ignore the link between culture and commercial, with Princes Quay a shopping centre on stilts just the other side of the windows. Not far away there’s the wave design of the roof at St Stephen’s. It all adds to the unique character and appeal of the city, and there is much more in the heads of local people.
FUN: A synchronised swimming-inspired event in Princes Avenue
Gillian said: “We work with a lot of community partnerships. At Pearson Park we started off with maybe ten local groups and ended up with about 150. The number of attendees at events ran into the tens of thousands.
“There is huge maritime heritage within the community and we have learned from that. We found volunteers who had worked on the Arctic Corsair for years and we regularly took them to the ship to get their suggestions and advice and opinions on what we needed to do.”
An example is the scumble glaze wood effect on the Arctic Corsair.
Gillian said: “We advertised opportunities for people to get hands-on and join in with the restoration work. There’s a huge amount of passion for celebrating our maritime stories and people have not been scared to pull us up on things and make sure we are doing it right!”
A fun element was a project which saw community dancers wearing bright yellow shower caps delivering an energetic performance inspired by synchronised swimming in Princes Avenue.
Gillian said: “They were of all ages and came from all over Hull. It was really diverse, with people aged from 17-67.”
CENTREPIECE: Gillian at the restored Maritime Museum
A maritime futures training programme offered a course to help people get the certificates they need to work at sea.
Gilian said: “It was aimed at people who were struggling to get into work. By the end of the course about 75 per cent of participants had jobs and within about three weeks it was 90 per cent. It was an intensive course, mainly men, and they all got to know each other well and developed friendships. They found jobs on all sorts of vessels.”
That focus on the future is reinforcing the view of Hull Maritime as the real legacy of UK City of Culture.
Gillian said: “It’s about Hull now, Hull in the future and not just looking back. Part of that future is providing really good quality visitor attractions that turn the city from a day trip into a weekend away.
“It has increased dwell time which has a massive impact on the economy with more visitors, more people coming into the city centre and enjoying a national standard experience. People can’t do it in one day. They have to come back.”
Gillian is also buoyed by the feedback from her peers when she speaks at museum and heritage conferences around the country: “It’s amazing how much focus there is on this as an exemplar because of the scale of the investment. People are very interested in what we are doing.”
‘PEOPLE ARE IMPRESSED BY THE SCALE’: Gillian during the restoration of Spurn Lightship
She acknowledges the feeling of frustration about some aspects of the project but makes the point that time is precious and so much of that was taken away.
She said: “We had to remove 50,000 objects and items from the museum in readiness for the restoration and we were just starting that process when Covid hit. Then we had the lockdowns and long periods of time when people couldn’t go in the building. Then when they were allowed in they were limited in what they could do by social distancing. Jobs which involved more than one person were still not possible until the restrictions were lifted.”
But the public engagement continued with an ingenious, online initiative which promises to deliver some wonderful surprises.
Gilian said: “Every day, two objects were displayed online and the public were asked to choose their favourite. The next day we revealed the winner, and the next two items to choose from. The result is a People’s Choice gallery which will reflect the responses of the citizens of Hull.”
Even with the opening up for the first time of the top floor, the new-look building will not be able to display all of the 50,000 items at once because it’s still a museum and not a TARDIS. But curator Robin Diaper has told Gillian to expect to see “the most eccentric attic”.
She said: “We are planning the museum with great flexibility and we are using digital resources much better than in the past. People are unlikely to see the same things every time they visit.”
For a taste visit maritimehull.