Greetings from Hull
Welcome to Hullywood
While significant parts of Hull were bombed during WWII, and many lives tragically lost, its Old Town survived and has been well preserved. The historic buildings and cobbled streets make it an ideal stand-in for Victorian or Georgian London. These streets have been transformed many times by film and TV studios for productions including The Crown, Victoria and Blitz.
We came across a team dressing several streets for a film about Jack the Ripper. Modern features were being hidden and replaced by Victorian ones. There were market stalls being created, props such as crates and dummy food being added, and the cobbled street dirtied with grit and straw. The overall effect was very convincing, as you can see.
27 Comments
grandmisadventures
I love this, it has great old time vibe to it
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, they did a very convincing job of recreating Victorian streets – thanks Meg 🙂
Image Earth Travel
The teeth are unique but bizarre! A great set for Jack the Ripper. There have been so many movies and documentaries about him, but each one uncovers a little more.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Nilla 🙂 People are continually fascinated by the Ripper. Apparently this film is based on the probably untrue suggestion that he was actually the Prince of Wales, oldest son of Queen Victoria!
Image Earth Travel
Right, I hadn’t heard that version.
wetanddustyroads
It’s very interesting how places are converted for a movie to represent a certain period – I saw that in Malta as well. I am not the biggest fan of dentists … and that vintage pliers will make me turn around in my tracks!
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, I imagine dental treatment back then was very painful! I was fascinated by the level of detail that went into dressing these streets, including bringing in the grit and straw. Later in the week we watched them filming a night scene outside Hull Minster and that was really interesting too, but harder to photograph.
Monkey's Tale
Looks like a fun visit. No moviestar sightings I guess? Maggie
Sarah Wilkie
Apparently Martin Clunes (do you know him? He’s famous over here) stars in the film and was around, but we didn’t spot him.
Monkey's Tale
I had to look him up. I don’t know.hime by name, but I recognize his face.
Leanne Cole
Would be interesting to see how they change things for the movie. fascinating.
Sarah Wilkie
It was – the amount of work involved is quite incredible!
Suzanne
I still shudder at the thought of watching Jack the Ripper when I was a teenager.
Sarah Wilkie
And yet there’s a constant fascination with him!
Suzanne
Well, what does that say about human nature🙄
Marie
A great find! I love the teeth!!!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Marie 🙂 You wouldn’t want to get your teeth seen to there though!
Anabel @ The Glasgow Gallivanter
That must have been fun to see! Is that a dentist’s sign with the teeth and pliers. Looks scary!
Sarah Wilkie
Yep, that’s a dentist sign! Oddly there was another one nearby, a little less gruesome.
margaret21
Well, that was fun. I was last in the Old Town maybe five years ago, and found it very sad, with lots of bargain basement stores barely surviving. Not the vibe they were looking for. I hope filming brings a bit of much needed revenue.
Sarah Wilkie
I gather the council is working to develop a bit of a film industry here and it’s paying off, with quite a bit of money coming into the city as a result. I like the feel of the old town area but other parts of the city definitely have the sort of vibe you describe.
margaret21
It’s a shame, as it’s obviously a city with such an interesting history. But it just feels …. sad.
Sarah Wilkie
My impression is that it’s trying to turn things around but has only been successful in pockets, probably because there isn’t enough money to do everything, and also perhaps because expectations are low and they don’t have the level of ambition that some other cities have shown.
margaret21
I’m keepg my fingers crossed, because this is a city with a lot going for it. Lots of my friends went to university in Hull and loved it. Admittedly, several decades ago ….
Egídio
It must have been nice to see the town being “dressed” for the movie.
Sarah Wilkie
Yes – not only was it interesting, it gave a good idea of how the street might have once looked
Egídio
That’s even better!