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Hull City Council received funding from Historic England to unlock the potential of Hull Old Town, fuelling economic, social and cultural recovery and breathing new life into it for future generations. The scheme aims to help with the recovery of streets that are rich in heritage and full of promise from regenerating historic buildings to helping to engage local communities through art and cultural projects. 

As part of the scheme, Untold Hull are collecting memories of Whitefriargate from people with stories of shopping, living, working and socialising down the street and its immediate surroundings. If you have any memories you would like to share then please use the ‘Contact Us’ link at the top of the page to get it touch.

Whitefriargate, once a significant high street, has seen many changes within living memory including its pedestrianisation in 1972 and the closure of major retailers such as Woolworth’s and Marks & Spencer. 

Click here to listen to the full length recordings from this project. More recordings will be added here as they become available.

You can also listen to some short extracts from the recordings below. These will updated everyday throughout National Storytelling week which runs from 30th January to 6th February 2021.

Sue Clark

Sue recalls a particularly memorable shopping trip down Whitefriargate in the late 60’s to buy a dress for a relatives wedding.

Peter Nelson

Peter recalls a couple of amusing incidents and near misses when working as a plumber down Whitefriargate in the late 60’s and early 70’s

Sue Berrieman

Sue shares memories of ice cream vans and recalls how busy the street would be as a child when shopping with her parents

Julie Marsters

Julie recalls how much she disliked being taken shopping down Whitefriargate by her parents as a young child, due to the massive crush of people

Becky Binnington

Becky tells us about her first impressions of Whitefriargate when she moved to the city and describes how ‘magical’ it felt.

Moira Monahan

Moira remembers moving from a stuffy department store to work in the first clothing boutique in Hull down Whitefriargate

John Brien

John tells us about the scene around the old Kardomah cafe down Whitefriargate in the late 60’s early 70’s.