I read that at the last formal meeting of the Hanseatic league in the 17th century only nine cities bothered to turn up, maybe the weather was bad or maybe they'd heard and seen it all before and just couldn't be bothered... So it felt yesterday when I revisited Hull's Hanse day celebrations; the event had been rolled into the Lord's Mayor's Parade which did not not bode well (if you need to combine two of your events into one biggy; "the Lord Mayor's Hanse Day", then probably neither are worth the effort of visiting).
By the time I got there just after two in the afternoon I'd missed the parade (thankfully) and everything looked to be over... we were promised all sorts of goodies but there were I think about four possibly five pathetic stalls in the square outside Holy Trinity church, a few more tucked onto Trinity House Lane and something silly was going on in Queen Victoria Square... this was nothing like as big an affair as back in 2016 and visitors were few and far between; granted the weather was as the weather was as it often is in early June; varying between somewhat disappointing and absolutely pouring down... and maybe we've all heard and seen it all before.
... and what I asked myself do these folk do when it's not Hanse Day? I
know King's Lynn has a Hanse Day and there were a few other ports with
Hanseatic connections but is that enough to keep the wolf from the door?
In case you were wondering why folk (or fools even) don't wear such fabulous headwear any more, so good at keeping the ears warm well fashions change and things evolve ...
