Portrait of Hull

Hull, or Kingston Upon Hull to give it its full title, is a city of great contrasts, from the elegant Guildhall and thriving international port, to the calm of the Museum Quarter centred in the heart of the Old Town and the breathtaking and hugely successful submarium, The Deep, which points confidently towards the River Humber. Alongside the history, tradition and modern regeneration of the city, there is also a remarkable human story, for the City Council shoulders a responsibility for some of the largest areas of social housing anywhere in the country. Historic museums, modern shopping centres, marinas, sports stadiums and business developments, signal the renaissance of an unassuming, yet intriguing city. As the 140 beautiful photographs in the book show, this is a place rapidly re-inventing itself, in the shadow of the demise of its once great fishing fleets. And as this stunning book of new photographs shows, for those who have a view about Hull but have never actually been there, a visit to truly get under its skin is likely to turn into quite a surprise. Ian Carstairs provided the photographs for the acclaimed Moods of the Yorkshire Coast by Halsgrove in 2005, and also Moods of the North York Moors and Portrait of York. He is a former chairman of the Heritage Lottery Fund for Yorkshire and the Humber, and former Deputy Chairman of the North York Moors National Park Authority. He is the founding trustee of the Carstairs Countryside Trust and was appointed an MBE for services to conservation in 1995.