Hull Boulevard Dreams

We were looking at the regenaration of our area. Our Street is Gordon Street and we are looking after it. When we walked past the big gates of the Boulevard Mrs Roberts said, "What is that place?" and we did not know. She said that is the famous Boulevard, home of Hull FC.
She was not very pleased that we did not know, so we are having a look at the history of the Boulevard.

How Our Project Started

We had a very important meeting to decide what we would do in our project.
Mrs Clark was there and Quentin. We went as a photographer, interviewer, film maker and Blog caster so that we could say what our class wanted to do.

Quentin Budworth joins the team

Quentin Budworth, filmmaker, knows how to make blogs and films. He will help us.

Classroom planning

We made a plan and a time line. We made the time line to tell us when lots of things happened and found out about the past.

Dividing up the work

We split into four groups. We had interviewers, Blog casters, filmmakers and photographers. We split up so that all the jobs got done.

A brief history of The Boulevard - Early Years

1850 - The site of the Boulevard is used as an Athletics Ground and cycle track.
1895 - First Hull FC match at the Athletics ground.
1899 - Hull FC buy the athletics Ground and re name it the Boulevard.
1921 - First test match played against Australia.
1927 - First Greyhound races take place to generate extra income for the club.
1940 -The new east stand is built and because a landmine is dropped on the Boulevard. Throughout the war Hull FC play at the Boulevard. Winston Churchill visits the ground to inspect bomb damage.

A brief history of The Boulevard - Glory Years

1945 + Many games of rugby are played during the 1960s including Internationals to capacity crowds - going to the Boulevard and supporting Hull FC became a way of life for many fans.
1967 -Flood lights put up - enabling evening matches to be played.
1971 - Speedway introduced to the Boulevard
2002- Last Rugby game played

Johnny Whiteley remembers the 'Glory Years' at the Boulevard.

A brief history of The Boulevard - Recent Years

The three penny stand was knocked down in 1995 and a new concrete one was built so it was safer.
Some people have had their ashes spread on the old Boulevard ground because it felt like home to the fans.
Hull F C had to move to the KC Stadium.
The Boulevard is now a greyhound race track.

The Interview Day

The interviewers were preparing thier questions in the morning. The interviewers were Regan, Jack, Jimmy, Georgia and Kieran . They were planning where to sit the guests, the best angles for the photographers and where to seat the audience in the class room.

On the interview day we all got the classroom decorated with big chairs and tables and I was a film maker I was filming. I was practising and then the visitors came, I was filming the people who was asking the questions and when the people was answering the questions I was filming them as well.

Mr. Johnny Whiteley MBE

This is Johnny Whiteley he signed peoples papers, hats and shirts.

This is Johnny Whiteleys MBE - we call it a medal.

Johnny Whiteley signed my paper. Go Johnny!

Mr. Peter Allen

Told us that he has always been a fan of Hull FC. He lived close to the ground when he was a boy and his dad was in the supporters club. Mr Allen finds out a lot about Hull FC. He writes about them and has always done good work for the players.

Mrs. K Chadwick

Is a fan of Hull FC. She lives down Airlie St which is next to the Boulevard. She told us it was dirty and smelled of hot dogs on match days. She said the toilets were filthy and disgusting. Mrs Chadwick said the men’s changing rooms were dark and smelly.

Mrs. Chadwick talks about the Boulevard.

Mr. Stephen Roberts

Steve is a good fan of Hull FC Rugby Club. It was the last day for the wooden three penny stand and Steve was watching the match. When it finished he started cutting a piece of the famous Boulevard stand.
The stewards and police came up to him and said "What are you doing?"
Steve said " Just cutting a piece from the three penny stand".
"You are not allowed to do that." said the policeman.
He nearly got arrested by the police.

When they were not looking Steve cut a piece of the stand and took it home.

The Interviews went very well

Steve Roberts attempts to offload the ball despite the tackle by Peter Allen but Johnny Whiteley was too busy signing autographs to take the pass!



We made the classroom like a studio. The interviewers asked interesting questions. The panel were Mr Johnny Whiteley MBE, Mr Allen, Mr Roberts and Mrs Chadwick.
We were finding out information about the Boulevard. We call this oral history because we learn from their memories.

We had some guests from year 6

Ben, Calvin and Macauley hold the Rugby ball with Mr.Allen. They are big Rugby fans and want to be rugby players when they are older.

Planning for location day

In the morning we went to the Boulevard ground.
In the afternoon we went to the KC Stadium.
Mr Roberts rang up and arranged our visits. He also got the minibus organised
Mrs Roberts asked Mr Barnett if he would come and Mrs Chadwick came too.

The Location Shoot

We took a pad and pencil to write notes down. We took cameras to take pictures and digital blues and video cameras to film the people talking.

The Race Track

Greyhound racing takes place at the Boulevard ground twice a week, on a Thursday and a Saturday evening. The greyhounds run around the track chasing a hare. The hare is on a rail and travels at 38 miles per hour, that is just a little bit faster than the dogs.
The track runs around the pitch and it is made of fine sand. The finish line is opposite the stands. Race nights are very exciting and very loud.
When the greyhounds arrive at the ground they are weighed and checked to see if they have their marking tattoo in their ear, if they are English they are tattooed in their right ear and if the tattoo is in the left ear they are Irish dogs.
A vet checks the dogs to see if they are fit to run and then they are put into numbered kennels, groups of six dogs for each race.
Later the dogs are taken to the traps ready to run the race. A camera is on the finishing line to settle any arguments at the end of the race.

The Hare

This is the hare - it's not a real one but it goes 38 mph, it is remote controlled. It is made of cloth.
The hare is orange, it is fast and it beats the dogs every time in every race. All the races are filmed by video which takes a picture of the dog's and the judges look at the footage to see which dog has won.The hare flicks a lever to let the dogs out and then the dogs starts running to race and the hare wins and one dog wins.

How dogs race

The dogs race tight and fast.The dogs have marking tatoos in their ears so that the owner knows which is which. The dogs rest in a sort of kennel. Each dog has its own kennel to rest in. The dogs has to be weighed before the race so they know the dog is fit. Before the race Mr Smith and Mr Bocking look very carefuly with the vet so they know the dog is feeling well.
If the dog looks ill it doesn't race.The dogs have a big meal at home so the dog doesn't run out of energy.

A stones throw away

The KC stadium looks like it is a stones throw away from the Boulevard.

Tommy Bocking and Mr Smith

Tommy Bocking and Mr Smith showed us around and gave us more information about the Boulevard.

Back onto the Rugby Pitch

We ran onto the pitch and played rugby on the Boulevard where all the famous people had played.

Quentin Filmed us

We were talking to people, also watching and playing when Quentin filmed us. This picture is when we interviewed Tommy and Mike on the pitch.

The Three- Penny Stand

The old Three Penny Stand was made of wood. It was knocked down and rebuilt in concrete for safety after 1995.

It was given this name because it cost three old pennies to stand there.

Most of the local supporters would use this stand when their team was playing at home.

We sang 'Old Faithful' the FC anthem in the 'Threepenny Stand' it was great!

This sign is above the Three Penny stand and it is so that we remember the men lost in the triple Trawler disaster.

Running on the pitch

We ran a race from one goal to the other to see how far it was. Mr Whiteley said a player runs seven miles during a game so they must be fit for every match.

The Old Chiltern School

This building used to be Chiltern school. The boys were at one end and the girls at the other, we know this because Andrew saw the signs carved onto the gate posts. The building is used as a gym for the juniors of FC. Johnny Whiteley told us that this was his school as a boy and also Mr Allen went here.

Who took a sample of hallowed turf?

I was on the pitch and I got some grass and hid it in my sleeve so they couldn't see it .

The KC Stadium

Steve took us to the KC Stadium in the school minibus where we met Paul King.
Paul King is a rugby player with Hull FC. He told us about playing both at the Boulevard and the KC Stadium.
He was quite proud to move on to a different place to play rugby.
We went into the Hull FC changing room. We saw the showers, there was an ice bath
for when the rugby player is very hot they can just jump in to cool down quickly.
There was also a massage table for if the players get cramp.

The Stadium impresses

The K C Stadium is impressive and awesome. I liked going right to the top of the west stand, you can see for a very long way. It holds a lot more people than the Boulevard. They have concerts and football matches as well as rugby league. They have cafes and bars and sports hall, library, astro turf, skate board park.

First The Shop

When we went into the FC shop we saw pictures of superstars, Clive Sullivan, Johnny Whiteley, Richard Swaine and Knocker Norton. Johnny told us all about them. The motorway between Hessle road and Holderness road is called Clive Sullivan Way after him because he played for both Hull rugby team.

'Kingy' is a superstar

Paul King told us that he went to Johnny Whiteley’s club when he was a boy before he played rugby. He liked playing at the Boulevard because it felt like home to him. Johnny Whiteley trained him to play rugby.We liked talking to Kingy he was very interesting.

The Stadium Tour

From the top of the stand you can see the seats spell Hull and show the crown. We sat in the stand at the edge of the pitch and Mrs Chadwick told us where she sits.

Golden Seats

The seats spell out HULL in gold for Hull City and white for FC also there is the crown which is the logo for our city.

Two Teams One Stadium

Tigers and Airlie birds both play at this stadium. You can see the two teams shirts in the entrance hall of the stadium, there is an away shirt and a home shirt.

The West Stand

From the top of the west stand you can see right over the town centre. It was very high and quite scary. The commentators and press work up here and the men who mend the flood lights go up a ladder from here.

Johnny Whiteley Suite

This is where the players and their wives and girlfriends go to rest after the match.

FC's Changing Rooms

The Warm Up Room

This is pretend grass for the players to warm up before the match so they do not get injured.

Leaving KC Stadium

We went down a spiral staircase all the way from the top to the bottom of the stadium. At the bottom there were pictures of both teams and there was a big desk.

The Big Decision

Is moving Hull FC to the KC Stadium progress or not?

We have been looking at the regeneration programme for our area and the children have been looking at Gordon Street. They have strong opinions about what should be changed and if changes are for the better or not.
They also have opinions about the Boulevard now.
D Roberts

The Boulevard - A special place

This is the last match at the Boulevard - Hull v New Zealand 22nd October 2002

Johnny Whiteley, Paul King and all of the other guests said that the Boulevard is a special place and they will always have good memories about it. They say that it is like moving home – The Boulevard was their home.

The children all had opinions about whether it was progress or not!
Kaidon says yes – because all the things are have improved
Tori says yes – because the changing rooms are much cleaner and more space.
Kieran says yes – because there are a lot more seats.
Jimmy says yes – because I did not like the smells and all the pans were left out in the kitchen.
Andrew says no – because the Boulevard was home to the players and fans.

The class all think that the facilities are better but they like the old Boulevard and will always remember what it is.

This is a list of books and authors where we got our information from.

The Boulevard Voices –Raymond Fletcher
The Grounds of Rugby League
British Rugby League The groundhopper’s guide –Mike Latham
White with Clover Boulevard memories –Mike Sterriker
Good old Hessle Road – Alec Gill
Hessle Road – Alec Gill
Hull in the 1950’s – John Smith
The Good Old Days – Paul Williams & Derek Hilton
Images of Hull – complied by –Barbara Power
Postcards of Hull – Kenneth F Elsom

Beards, Buttons & Blue Movies – Richard Tingle
Legends of Hull F C – Hull FC

Plus lots of old programmes from matches
Newspaper cuttings and of course internet links

www. hullfc.com
http://www.blackandwhites.co.uk/
Wickepedia