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To Hull and Back: On Holiday in Unsung Britain
A first-hand look into Britain's unlikely travel destinations In a mad adventure that took him from Hull to Hell, Tom Chesshyre visited secret spots of Britain in search of the least likely holiday destinations. He experienced the real Coronation Street in Salford, explored Blade Runner Britain in Port Talbot, discovered that everything’s quite green in Milton Keynes, met real-life superheroes and many a suspicious landlady, and watched a football match with celebrity chef Delia Smith in Norwich. With a light and edgy writing style the author peels back the skin of the unfashionable underbelly of Britain, and embraces it all with the spirit of discovery.
- GenresTravelNonfictionEbooks
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
6 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Tom Chesshyre
19 books35 followersTom Chesshyre has been writing travel stories for UK national newspapers for over15 years. After reading politics at Bristol University and completing a journalism diploma from City University, he had stints at the Cambridge Evening News, Sporting Life and Sky Sports. During this period he won the Independent's young sports writer of the year competition and was runner-up in the Financial Times young business writer awards. His first travel piece was about England's cricket fans in Barbados for the Daily Telegraph. He freelanced for the Daily and Sunday Telegraphs, wrote a column for Conde Nast Traveller, and contributed to the Express, the Guardian, and the Independent, before working on the travel desk of the Times. He has assisted with the research on two books - W. G. by Robert Low, a biography of W. G. Grace, and Carlos: Portrait of a Terrorist by Colin Smith, a biography of "Carlos the Jackal". He has written magazine pieces for Wanderlust, Geographical and Business Traveller - and contributes book reviews to the TLS. His travel writing has taken him to more than 75 countries. He lives in south-west London and was born in 1971.
His first book, How Low Can You Go: Round Europe for 1p Each Way (Plus Tax) was published by Hodder in 2007. To Hull and Back: On Holiday in Unsung Britain was published by Summersdale in July 2010, followed by Tales from the Fast Trains: Europe at 186 mph is published in July 2011.
His first book, How Low Can You Go: Round Europe for 1p Each Way (Plus Tax) was published by Hodder in 2007. To Hull and Back: On Holiday in Unsung Britain was published by Summersdale in July 2010, followed by Tales from the Fast Trains: Europe at 186 mph is published in July 2011.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 22, 2014
Chesshyre picked out some of the least likely spots in the U. K. anyone would deliberately visit ... and went there as a visitor. He managed to find local boosters in all of them, and never really ran out of things to see early, even if a couple of the destinations proved challenging in that regard; I found this a balanced picture, as he didn't ignore the more troubled areas. Most importantly, he succeeded is keeping me interested in continuing to hear about these places right to the end. I'm looking forward to reading his other books.
July 2, 2017
A really thought-provoking stroll through the highways and byways of unsung Britain! Tom Chesshyre, a travel writer who is used to the best locales, decides to choose the places that everyone in Britain says should never be a holiday destination - Hull, Slough, Derry, Milton Keynes, Norwich, Coventry, etc. By taking a weekend away to all these places, Tom puts fresh eyes onto the people and the place. He digs into the current social perspectives - as to why this place is so ill-considered - and finds the surprising strengths of each place, as well as the social undercurrents or lack of infrastructure, that may be dragging it down. I enjoyed his thoughtful insights, gentle humour and optimism, and warts-and-all account. It really makes you stop and think about the fabric of community and what helps to build it and hold it together.
May 31, 2022
Such a fab book about unlikely holiday destinations. Might I suggest a follow-up as a sequel to see what has changed since To Hull and Back came out?
Anyway, as a Salfordian, I now want to visit the Working Class Movement Library, especially to see if Veronica Trick still volunteers there. I hope so, as she was my teacher in top infants when I was at primary school years ago!
Anyway, as a Salfordian, I now want to visit the Working Class Movement Library, especially to see if Veronica Trick still volunteers there. I hope so, as she was my teacher in top infants when I was at primary school years ago!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 19, 2022
Some of these places I know, and like; some are on my to-visit list. Now I have reassurance that others, I have no need to visit. I find this an open, honest portrayal of the places I know, so I trust his views on the places I don't. I'll be making some weekwnd trips very soon.
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June 9, 2019A travel book where the author went to unexpected and unexciting places. Unfortunately the book itself was very unexciting and I found myself skipping bits just to get it finished.
July 21, 2021
Some nice vignettes but not as good as the much referenced Bryson
April 9, 2014
I have a weakness for travelogues that go to unexciting, unexotic places: Bill Bryson, Stuart Maconie, that guy who went to all the places on the Monopoly board, the fellow who travelled round Ireland with a fridge, the bloke who went to every country in Europe on Ryanair.
Now there's this guy, who’s travelling to the unloved, the unvisted, the not-on-the-tourist map towns and cities of England: Hull, Slough, Milton Keynes, Port Talbot, Derry, Norwich, Salford, Coventry, Croydon.
I like the premise (that you can always find something good in a town – heck, I lived in Doncaster and then Sunderland), but I was quite surprised that the author, Tom Chesshyre, is a journalist. Firstly because he seems to have failed to do any basic fact checking (Hull is not in South Yorkshire, Bill Bryson lived near Norwich, Vermont, not Norwich, Norfolk, Monica Jones was Philip Larkin’s long term girlfriend, not Maeve Brennan, brake (for a bike) is not spelled break, people from the North East do not call children “birns” but “bairns”, the salon treatment is eyebrow threading, not eyebrow reading, Knowing Me Knowing You With Alan Partridge wasn't set in Norwich) and secondly for awful sentences such as: “Not long after leaving home, I've learned for myself about the trading estate that seems to symbolise the town that Betjeman made so famous”. When I read that it was “a crisp December day” and then two lines later, that there's a “clear November sky”, I wondered whether anyone at Summersdale, the publisher, did any editing at all. It made me suspicious of any of the “facts” in the rest of the book. I really did want to believe that the sayings “Keen as mustard” comes from a condiment manufacturer, that Colman's later took over, called Keen, and “A cock and bull story” originates from the two coaching inns, the Cock and the Bull, near Milton Keynes on the road from the north down to London where stories would be told-retold and exaggerated. That a crazy Lord in the Scillies once insisted that one of the islands only had black rabbits and another only white. But I can't. Not after reading that there was "a bush of heavily fruited blackberries" in Milton Keynes – in December.
He’s only spending the weekend in each town and so can't get the full feel of a place. In the Hull chapter, he didn't comment on the white phone boxes, the fish trail, the Slavery museum, the infamous Spider nightclub, and so I wondered what he'd missed from South Shields, Port Talbot, Derry. He mentions Larkin twice in the Coventry chapter in relation to Hull, but fails to mention that the poet was born there and wrote “I Remember, I Remember” about the city.
Each chapter follows the basic pattern of reporting crap things about the crap town (e.g. Betjeman's view of Slough), and then the good things the author finds, along with the quirky characters he meets. It becomes clichéd, when he sends himself to Coventry, he visits the cathedral – well what else is there to do in Coventry? The place he enjoys the most is Hell in the Scilly Isles, a far more traditional tourist place.
Now there's this guy, who’s travelling to the unloved, the unvisted, the not-on-the-tourist map towns and cities of England: Hull, Slough, Milton Keynes, Port Talbot, Derry, Norwich, Salford, Coventry, Croydon.
I like the premise (that you can always find something good in a town – heck, I lived in Doncaster and then Sunderland), but I was quite surprised that the author, Tom Chesshyre, is a journalist. Firstly because he seems to have failed to do any basic fact checking (Hull is not in South Yorkshire, Bill Bryson lived near Norwich, Vermont, not Norwich, Norfolk, Monica Jones was Philip Larkin’s long term girlfriend, not Maeve Brennan, brake (for a bike) is not spelled break, people from the North East do not call children “birns” but “bairns”, the salon treatment is eyebrow threading, not eyebrow reading, Knowing Me Knowing You With Alan Partridge wasn't set in Norwich) and secondly for awful sentences such as: “Not long after leaving home, I've learned for myself about the trading estate that seems to symbolise the town that Betjeman made so famous”. When I read that it was “a crisp December day” and then two lines later, that there's a “clear November sky”, I wondered whether anyone at Summersdale, the publisher, did any editing at all. It made me suspicious of any of the “facts” in the rest of the book. I really did want to believe that the sayings “Keen as mustard” comes from a condiment manufacturer, that Colman's later took over, called Keen, and “A cock and bull story” originates from the two coaching inns, the Cock and the Bull, near Milton Keynes on the road from the north down to London where stories would be told-retold and exaggerated. That a crazy Lord in the Scillies once insisted that one of the islands only had black rabbits and another only white. But I can't. Not after reading that there was "a bush of heavily fruited blackberries" in Milton Keynes – in December.
He’s only spending the weekend in each town and so can't get the full feel of a place. In the Hull chapter, he didn't comment on the white phone boxes, the fish trail, the Slavery museum, the infamous Spider nightclub, and so I wondered what he'd missed from South Shields, Port Talbot, Derry. He mentions Larkin twice in the Coventry chapter in relation to Hull, but fails to mention that the poet was born there and wrote “I Remember, I Remember” about the city.
Each chapter follows the basic pattern of reporting crap things about the crap town (e.g. Betjeman's view of Slough), and then the good things the author finds, along with the quirky characters he meets. It becomes clichéd, when he sends himself to Coventry, he visits the cathedral – well what else is there to do in Coventry? The place he enjoys the most is Hell in the Scilly Isles, a far more traditional tourist place.
October 11, 2014
Of all the places to go on holiday the places that would not be top of the list include Slough, Croydon and of course Hull.
But Tom Chesshyre has decided, with sometime uncontrolled laughter from his partner, to visit some of these unloved places. He goes to all of the dozen places with an open mind, but does take the precaution of contacting the local tourist agencies first so he maximises his experience at the locations. There are some moments that make you smile when reading it, there are some dreadful B&B's that he stays in, and some of the areas that he visits are not particularly salubrious, one part of Croydon especially. Overall he comes across as impressed with some of the towns, even parts of Slough!
A good little travel book revealing some of the lesser considered parts of Britain. Chesshyre writes with conviction and enthusiasm, and even convinces his parter to go along.
But Tom Chesshyre has decided, with sometime uncontrolled laughter from his partner, to visit some of these unloved places. He goes to all of the dozen places with an open mind, but does take the precaution of contacting the local tourist agencies first so he maximises his experience at the locations. There are some moments that make you smile when reading it, there are some dreadful B&B's that he stays in, and some of the areas that he visits are not particularly salubrious, one part of Croydon especially. Overall he comes across as impressed with some of the towns, even parts of Slough!
A good little travel book revealing some of the lesser considered parts of Britain. Chesshyre writes with conviction and enthusiasm, and even convinces his parter to go along.
June 16, 2012
Like most of my books, I picked this one up in a charity shop. It looked like it'd be easy to pick up and dip into - ideal holiday reading in other words. Some time ago I bought a book called 'Bollocks To Alton Towers' which I thought this might make a companion piece to. It's much duller. An easy enough read though.
February 6, 2012
he did n't like Coventry much,Milton Keynes was a revelation,Londonderry looks interesting-Basically towns and cities most people would not think of touristing.Thought provoking.
May 23, 2013
A travel book about the UK. Really enjoyed finding out about places. I now need to go to Hull.
December 3, 2014
An entertaining read about going to the worst places in England. A funny read but also proves that you can find the best in somewhere if you look and keep your mind open!
April 14, 2017
He doesn't like Croydon!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews