Prologue, Exiliados Chilenos en Hull: Experiencia de dos generaciones ed. Ruth Aedo-Richmond (2022)
I would like to take this opportunity to provide some reminders to stimulate the memory of each and all of us. Let me begin by reminding you of our problem of adapting to Hull, a place utterly unknown to us. These difficulties began with our arrival. For those who arrived in winter, the long and dark days in Hull were horrible. The nights seemed an eternity: we hardly saw any daylight. Added to this was the cold weather, with incessant rain, with strong, biting winds which made walking a struggle, requiring us to hold on to something or someone so as not to fall down.
The exception was the summers of 1975 and 1976, when temperatures rose to almost 30 degrees. The days seemed endless and, after finishing our work for the day at the university, we really enjoyed going to the beach, though there were more pebbles than sand. Close to Hull were the beaches of Hornsea, Bridlington, Scarborough and Whitby. One summer we were invited by John and Constance Saville to their summer place in Staithes. During those two years, we thought we had arrived in paradise. Of course, those two summers were never repeated again. In the case of other summers, there was a week of heat and sunshine which always tended to coincide exactly with the schedule of examinations, and then the rest of the weeks were cloudy, cold, rainy and windy.
For all of us, finding a house was a great challenge. Landlords placed many obstacles before us, being foreigners and having children. On the other hand, the services provided by local doctors, dentists, consultants, and hospitals, including medicines, were all free, which was astonishing for us. The National Health Service was a British jewel. We can say the same for the educational system, with local schools receiving all the children living close by. Primary and secondary schooling was totally free. The school day began at 9.00 and continued until 3.30 for the little ones and until 4.00 for the older children. In primary school, children were provided with school materials and in middle school and secondary school children received textbooks for each subject. All of this was unbelievable for us.
Perhaps one of the most important events in Hull which coincided with our time there was the construction and opening of the Humber Bridge. At that moment, it was the longest single-span bridge in the world, crossing the wide River Humber and its muddy shores. When we were approaching Hull, it seemed like it was the sea given how wide the river was. Talking about arriving in Hull by train, which is how all of us arrived in the city, how can we ever forget Paragon Station? It was somewhat gloomy and very cold, especially if we arrived in winter. However, everything changed when Spring arrived in Hull; it was beautiful, with streets full of flowers: snowdrops, crocuses, tulips, daffodils and summer roses. We can all remember how green and well cared for were the verges of the city’s streets.
If we were going to Beverley, we immediately entered the green countryside surrounding Hull. All this made us forget the long, dark winters. We can also remember the cream-coloured telephone kiosks in Hull, different from the red ones elsewhere in Britain. There are some names which summon memories for all of us, such as Cottingham Road, Chanterlands Avenue, Princes Avenue, Pearson Park, Queen’s Gardens, and the small market town of Beverley, with its imposing Minster and the marvellous Beverley Westwood. We also should not forget Hessle foreshore, where we used to go to view the enormous Humber Bridge, which was a compulsory place to take relatives from Chile when they came to visit us.
I believe, however, that the most important place in our lives in Hull after our homes was Hull University. Its marvellous nursery, a paradise for our little children, is something which stirs fond memories within us. The University became our second home because every week we used to spend around eight hours each day there, with tutorials, lectures, and the Students’ Union, where we usually organised our Chilean ‘social evenings’. But our favourite place was the library, with its seven floors, the carrels and the inter-library loan service. The library was a delight for all of us. It was marvellous.
Well, dear friends, I think this will bring a sense of yearning to all of you concerning the good and difficult times that we spent in Hull.