Five things you may not know about Hull ahead of Radio 1's Big Weekend

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The many delights of Hull

Radio 1's Big Weekend is happening in Hull this weekend for the first time.

Kasabian, Biffy Clyro, Katy Perry, Haim, Zara Larsson and Bastille are all appearing at Europe's biggest free ticketed festival at the city's Burton Constable Hall.

Big Weekend, which has previously visited places like Exeter, Norwich and Hackney, also coincides with Hull's UK City of Culture celebrations.

More than 50,000 people will be attending over the weekend.

But what do you know about Hull? Here are some of the things you may not realise about the city in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

1. Hull is home to the UK's biggest Yorkshire pudding factory

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Yorkshire puddings are the best thing about a Sunday roast - except for roast potatoes, parsnips, gravy, stuffing...

The Aunt Bessie's factory on Freightliner Road produces 500 million frozen Yorkshire Puddings every year.

That's nearly eight per person, per year for every man, woman and child in the UK.

The factory employs 350 people and its parent company, the William Jackson Food Group, was founded way back in 1851.

The frozen Yorkshires were originally created for Butlins Holiday Camps in 1974 and launched in stores in 1985.

2. It's the only place in the UK you'll find white phone boxes

The reason is pretty simple.

While the rest of the UK's telephone companies were merged into the Post Office Telephone department (which later became BT), Hull kept its own telephone provider.

All of its boxes were white, not red.

It also had White Pages, while the rest of the country had Yellow Pages.

(Side note - the man who came up with the design for the old telephone boxes, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, also designed Battersea Power Station and Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral)

3. You'll find a pattie in every fish and chip shop

If you didn't know already, a pattie is a deep-fried, battered mashed potato with sage and sometimes fried onions.

But every shop that sells the local delicacy has its own recipe.

Then there's the pattie butty - which is exactly what it sounds like - a pattie in a bun.

Earlier this month there was even a pattie-throwing contest in Hull.

The pattie dates back to at least 1888 and people that make them are called "pattie slappers".

4. If you visit Hull, you have to try chip spice

Chip spice was first introduced to Hull by restaurant owner John Science.

His friends Rob and Brenda Wilson came up with the idea of using spiced salt and paprika after visiting America during the late 1970s.

John's burger bar Yankee Burger on Jameson Street then made the chip topping famous, before local fish and chip shops started selling it.

5. Hull is home to the UK's smallest window

It's claimed that the window in The George Hotel is the smallest in the country.

According to the plaque on a wall outside the pub, the window dates back to 1683 when a porter used to sit at the window watching for coaches and horses arriving at the watering hole.

There are also a whole host of BIG things in Hull.

Holy Trinity is the largest parish Church in the country, Hull's Fair is the largest travelling fair in Europe, the Deep is the largest "aquarium" in the UK, the Humber Ports is the biggest port in this country, Mr Chu China Palace is the largest Chinese restaurant in the land and the mosaic above BHS is the biggest in the the country.

Hull is also the birthplace of the boiled sweet as well as medical treatments like Lemsip, Bonjela and Gaviscon.

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