This Is East 'Ull By Nicholas Boldock (1/3)	(1/3), (2/3), (3/3).

Let's get one thing clear from the off. I live in West Hull - Spring Bank West to be precise - and the reasons for this are plenty. I like it here. I know West Hull, and she knows me.

But it wasn't always so. Way back in the October of 1975, I popped my head out in Hedon Road Maternity Hospital, wailed a bit, and said hello to East Hull, which was to be my home for the next 18 years, give or take. I was shipped back to our council house on Bilton Grange, and I never moved home until I fled to University and the madness of Liverpool in 1994. Of course, I came back. We always do.

Most people who come to Hull from elsewhere barely see the East side of the city, except maybe on the drive up Hedon Road from the North Sea Ferries terminal. There's a fairly strong argument which says, as far as East Hull goes, there isn't much to see anyway. Reasonably true - but not the whole truth.

Take East Park for example. This is the largest park in the city (by some way), the centrepiece of which is the Ferens Boating Lake (yep, the same Ferens as the Art Gallery, if you were wondering). East Park also has an impressive collection of animals, including llamas, emus, wallabies, deer, and a whole host of birds. As children, we were also told (by whom I have no recollection) that the lake was home to a mythical giant pike - this, I am now sure, is untrue. When you're a kid in East Hull, East Park is the ultimate day out. Later in life you can see it for the slightly grubby facsimile of what it used to be, now that parts of it are in desperate need of a facelift, but nevertheless it's still as busy as ever, especially in Summer, when whole families turn out to hurl stale bread at slightly menacing geese.

I am unsure as to whether the famous Splash Boat is still in operation. I hope so. Nothing can quite replace the joy I felt when I finally figured out that the way to get utterly drenched was to sit at the back of the boat. Not the front, as we had always supposed. Magic. If you've no idea what I'm talking about, just trust me - maybe one day I'll let you in on the secret.

A few years ago you could find Craven Park, home of Hull Kingston Rovers (they used to be a successful rugby team, he says with a hint of sarcasm) just up the road from East Park. Morrisons Supermarket now stands on the site. Craven Park itself still exists, albeit in a slightly different form, and it is now situated in Greatfield Estate, still firmly in East Hull.

Craven Park might not have the glitz and glamour of the KC Stadium, but for some folk, it's the only place they will ever be seen every other Sunday. It might not be too far in the future when Hull KR finally take their place in Super League, and then the legendary Hull derby will once more be a glowing feature of the rugby season (the rather pointless Christmas derby, resurrected as a friendly fixture a couple of seasons ago, hardly has the same appeal).

Continued next page (2/3),

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