CSC Teesside: Training Day Tour 2018-9: Hull

The first 2019 date on my CSC Training Day Tour brought me to a new area. On a personal level, Hull is a place of strong family connections and many excellent childhood memories of Hull Fair, big museums and glorious statues, but this was the first I have had the pleasure of visiting the great city in a professional capacity.

Following my long, three-train journey from Teesside I was made to feel very welcome in Hull. It is an overlooked and underrated city. Hull took a severe pounding during the blitz of World War II yet repeatedly picked itself up, listed itself down and continued to get on with things. The people of Hull are fiercely proud and famously independent. One of many highly memorable historical moments saw the city refuse entry to King Charles I back in 1642; a major spark for the fiery English Civil War.

Hull can boast famous people from so many different genres: William Wilberforce, Amy Johnson, Tom Courtenay, The Spiders from Mars and Philip Larkin, to name but few. Not forgetting, of course the currently high-flying Tigers.

The Hull Central Library proved to be and excellent venue. All of the staff were very friendly and helpful and our room, upstairs in the Local History Reference Library, had everything we needed.

The library carpet depicted the Three Ducal Coronets -
the famous Coat of Arms for Kingston-upon-Hull

My level of excitement was already high before we even started the training and it increased further when I met the delegates. Wonderful individuals from all aspects of chess life, from schools to libraries, from teachers to an International Master, they complemented each other's skills marvellously to create an excellent, hard-working and attentive group.

Together, we spent time on the hosiery of CSC, the practical use of our curriculum, discussed the benefits of chess and introduced several mini-games and other chess challenges.

13 delegates is a larger number than the norm. which is another strong sign that this fine area is ready, willing and able to build up the strength of its junior and community chess activities.

It was wonderful to hear from the delegates of all the work already being done and of the plans for future projects.

For me, it was a fascinating experience I had plenty to think about on my three trains home.

I hope all delegates gained something useful from the day. Perhaps the gallery below will provide readers with an indication of whether or not everyone had an enjoyable time.

I hope we can make Hull an annual fixture on our Training Day Tour.

Thank you, everyone, for making the day such a great success.