‘Tower Tour’ at Hull Minster!!

Hey guys!! Last week, as well as seeing the ‘Golden Hour’ installation, I also recieved the opportunity to do a ‘Tower Tour’ at Hull Minster for my Auntie’s birthday. The tours were previously operated last year and we had the honour of being part of the first group to partake in the resurrected tours which will continue on every fortnight until October. Our group was first guided up to the bell ringing chamber before ending up right at the top of the iconic church on the viewing platform so we could behold the beautiful views of Hull and beyond from there. So in today’s post, I’m going to be describing more about my experience of the Tower Tour and giving you my honest opinion of it.

To begin the tour, our group was welcomed by one of the vicars and informed of how the tour would run: we’d ascend up to the bell ringing chamber first before continuing on to the viewing platform at the very top of the stunning Minster. After we’d spent some time taking in the amazing views, we’d descend back down again to the ground. Starting to advance up the steps, I quickly realized how steep they were and how enclosed the staircase was as a whole. It was quite a work out treading up the steps but eventually, we reached the bell ringing chamber and were provided with some time to explore the room. My auntie and Dad were examining some old pictures that lay hung on the walls and they discovered my great uncle Martin captured with a group in one of them. He used to be a curate at the church and it was really exciting for my family to recognise one of our relatives in a picture on the wall. After that, one of the volunteers, stationed in the chamber, delivered a brief talk about the bell ringing chamber. The main points of it were that there were 15 ropes available to ring the bells with and the bells automatically rung every hour due to the machinery that was set up to ensure this occurred. There were also a number of different plaques that decorated the walls to celebrate different events that were associated with the Minster. Next, we persevered on up the last leg of the 180 steps that the Minster had to arrive out on the viewing platform. The weather was the best it had been all week with mild temperatures and beautiful, clear blue skies which greatly complimented the amazing views we wintnessed. Since the architecture of the Tower had been shaped into a square, there were 4 different, equally gorgeous angles of the city you could gaze upon and I was breathtaken with each incredible scene that lay out in front of me.

Once we’d captured a whole collection of pictures and surveyed the amazing views, we embarked on the descent back down to the ground, pausing briefly in the bell ringing chamber to regain our energy. Although it was not part of the tour, we were invited into the room that encased the clock and bell ringing mechanism of the Minster and it was really interesting to inspect the mechanism that was relied upon to operate the Minster’s clock and bells. Eventually, we reached the ground once again – we’d suceeded in climbing up the Minster Tower and then down again!! Before leaving the church, we explored it’s vast exterior and examined the spectacular stain glass windows which really are pieces of art work in themselves. We actually stumbled across the commemorative plaque for Hull’s police force which I’d been searching for originally while writing this post and it was great to finally discover where it had been hidden. Overall, I really enjoyed the Tower Tour – the views were insanely gorgeous and I learnt a lot more about one of Hull’s most famous landmarks. If you are interested in taking part in a Tower Tour, please click here for more information or to book tickets.

Thank you for reading this post!! What’s your favourite landmark? Let me know in the comments!! There’ll be another post out soon but until then bye for now!!

Amelia Grace a.k.a Amelia in Hull