‘Hull never rests - we’re always looking for the next big thing’
‘CAKE CENTRAL’: Paul Schofield at Liquid Jade
Chewing the Fat - Out to lunch with Phil Ascough
This week’s guest: Paul Schofield
We’re in a café, not a pub. Choosing tea and coffee over something stronger. Eating salad and cake rather than chips or curry. But this scenario is purely temporary, and when Paul Schofield talks about how things have changed he means something completely different.
“Hull has lost quite a lot with the big department stores closing,” he says.
“But I think we have risen to the challenge very well because the independent sector seems to have stepped into that territory.”
It’s a safe bet that Paul knows more about the city centre than anyone else. He’s been walking its streets as a tour guide for 34 years. If he’d pounded those pavements as a police officer he’d have trekked further, faced a few perilous situations along the way and retired years ago.
Now 61, he has no thoughts of giving up because he’s having so much fun talking the talks and walking the walks, peeling back the layers of Hull’s history, trying to keep a lid on his simmering excitement about the future.
And then giving in: “Who would have thought just a few years ago that we’d have places like the Hideout Hotel and the DoubleTree by Hilton? But the tourism numbers were building anyway and City of Culture accelerated that.
“We still benefit massively from City of Culture with repeat visitors, students coming back. We’ve got a theatre that can attract West End productions and we have a big arena for concerts and other events.
‘NOTEABLE ADDITION’: Paul Schofield on the wall of fame at Liquid Jade
“The public realm work is a great addition. Nobody talks about the orange barriers any more but I still feature them in my talks to remind people how much better things are. I loved City of Culture year but I couldn’t do it again because I was working non-stop.”
Paul’s knowledge and enthusiasm made him the obvious choice to kick off our new Chewing the Fat feature. Equally inevitable was his selection of Liquid Jade as the venue for lunch.
It’s quirky, charming and just off the beaten track, through the archway next to The Works on Whitefriargate. It’s also owned by Paul’s sister, Helen, who bought the business six weeks before the first lockdown in 2020, and this was my first visit since those early days.
Helen hasn’t changed the place or the produce much. The walls have pictures of pop posters and pop stars, with a painting of Paul himself a notable addition, below Jimi Hendrix, above John Lennon, alongside Marilyn Monroe; Paul’s hat as much a trademark as Monroe’s look of vulnerable glamour.
We’re aware that most people who know us would expect us to be reporting from the Lion & Key or one of the other hostelries in the part of the Old Town that Paul has dubbed “pub central”. Liquid Jade is better described as cake central, an indulgent sticky chocolate orange wedge our reward for the restraint of the salad selections – tuna and sweetcorn with balsamic glaze for Paul, and superfood with feta, pomegranate seeds, a few nuts and mixed leaves in my bowl.
There’s a selection of light bites but nothing on the menu is likely to leave you struggling to get out of the door afterwards. Paninis, wraps, toasties, jacket spuds – the suspicion is they’re all designed to leave you with room for cake.
There’s beer, wine and prosecco but tea takes precedence for most guests, with a wall-size blackboard displaying the 40-plus varieties available. The coffee is also outstanding and triggers ideas of a winner-take-all arm wrestling competition between Liquid Jade and B.E. Coffee, or at least a blind tasting.
KNOWLEDGE: ‘It’s a safe bet Paul knows more about the city centre than anyone else’
Helen has bounced back successfully after the various lockdowns. She opened a tea stall in Trinity Market towards the end of 2021 and the tea room itself is thriving.
The return of the tea timers, which couldn’t be used during lockdown, reminds Paul of some Dutch visitors who wondered whether they were allowed to pour their tea before the timers had finished. He’s quick to add that their use isn’t compulsory.
The lunchtime crowd when we met included shoppers, workers and prominent members of Hull City Council accompanied by some influential contacts. Liquid Jade lends itself perfectly to idle chat and confidential discussion.
We weren’t that bothered who could hear us. Paul doesn’t mind people knowing his favourite places – a very long list includes the White Hart on Alfred Gelder Street and the aforementioned Lion & Key – and if there’s anywhere he doesn’t like he’s not letting on about it.
Paul doesn’t do negativity but displays a resourcefulness and resilience which are recognised as trademarks of his home city.
On his own business: “The work varied from one lockdown to another, sometimes unable to do anything and sometimes limited by the rule of six. Also, I think I have done talks at every women’s institute branch in East Yorkshire, but over the last two years I had to do a lot of them on Zoom.
CULTURE: Some of the music stars adorning the walls of Liquid Jade
“Now we’re getting a lot of groups visiting again so that’s nice, and we also get more journalists coming to Hull and promoting the city. I think I’m busier now than before Covid and that’s because there is such an appetite for everything, the talks and the walks.
“As with a lot of other cities and towns, retail is changing a lot. The top reason for anybody visiting most places used to be shopping and although that’s not the case anymore I use my walks to promote as many independent businesses as I can. That’s one of the big things in Hull now. I call it the rise of the independents.
“Hammonds of Hull is very encouraging and has given independent businesses a very prominent position. The arcades are brilliant and they are different. I get my hats from Beasley’s of course!
“Sometimes I buy a book from Julie at J E Books. I am famous for supporting independent pubs in Hull and there are more bars opening. The big thing is the transformation of Humber Street, which is incredible.”
Hull has responded well to that shift in shopping trends, highlighting its wide variety of attractions including history, culture, architecture and all things maritime. The future looks promising, and while there may be concerns about a lack of awareness of the city’s appeal among some of its own residents, there are also steps being taken to address that.
Some of Paul’s clients know a bit about the city, some very little. I once reported on a tour by a well-to-do group from the East Riding and overheard one member admit she had never heard of The George Hotel having the smallest window in England.
But Paul notes: “There’s a bit of Hull in the school curriculum now so some of the kids are quite well clued-up.”
VENUE: ‘Liquid Jade lends itself perfectly to idle chat and confidential discussion’. Lucy Campbell pictured behind the counter
Paul’s knack of ensuring that Hull’s rich history will never become stale is the result of watching and listening to his customers and from picking up on the more recent features around the city.
“I love Trinity Square and the mirror pools are some of my favourite things,” he enthuses.
“And I love the bridges. If I am near Drypool Bridge when it opens I make a point of watching the people – they all stop and take pictures. Murdoch’s Connection will win awards, I’m absolutely certain of that. It’s brilliant and it links up the parts of the city so well, making everything walkable.”
Paul’s business development plans this year will focus on some significant anniversaries, and he’s already looking beyond that.
He said: “This year there’s Larkin 100. Also 30 years of the jazz festival and the fish trail as well as 20 years of The Deep. I’m going to do some special fish trail walks because I think it’s one of the best things that has happened in the city.
“Kids love it, and adults too because it goes past so many pubs. It’s great street art and there are kids from 30 years ago who are now taking their kids. What I’d really like to do is create a tour that celebrates the jazz, the Larkin plaques and the fish trail all in one!
“The maritime city project will be another game-changer and it’s absolutely right that we should be known as Yorkshire’s Maritime City. We have never really joined the dots with our maritime history and told the story properly but now it’s different – the city doesn’t rest. We are always looking for the next thing.”