Kingston upon Hull

We travelled to Hull today for a couple of days stay in my home town and to see my sister.  We have a very nice Airbnb studio flat on Park Avenue, one of the four tree lined avenues of grand Victorian buildings off Princes Avenue, known as The Avenues.

We walked down to Princes Avenue and into Pearsons Park.  As we were walking round the perimeter we saw this building, number 32, it has a blue plaque stating that it was the home of Philip Larkin from 1956 to 1974.  The house had been owned by Hull University, previously the American Consulate, and Larkin rented an attic flat overlooking the park from where he wrote some of his poetry.

Larkin became famous and was decorated, though he turned down the original offer of OBE  He was chief Librarian at Hull University and received fellowships and honorary degrees from other universities. He was offered the role of Poet Laureate in 1984, but declined, he died in 1985. There is a statue of him in the main railway station, Paragon, see extra.

We had a drink and tea in one of the many independent eateries on Princes Avenue, Pave.  

References: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Larkin