Episode 2 Britain's City of Culture

Hello and welcome to Hull which for the whole of 2017 is the UK's city

of culture. And this is the Humber Bridge, the latest location to take

part in the 365 days celebration of art and culture. It's being turned

into a giant musical incher -- instrument, taking you on a sonic

journey. I've been exploring the cultural links between this maritime

city and its sister city of wretched fix. All this talk of girls not

boxing is old-fashioned. Will also find out how boxing pioneer barber

Butterick is being honoured in her home city. -- Barbara.

I'm the arts and culture correspondent for the BBC in Hull.

I'm the face of Hull, chosen by the BBC to tell the world about the city

of culture. We are on top of the Humber Bridge. Over there is

Lincolnshire and behind you is this city of Hull. This is one of the

North's most famous landmarks. It has stunning views and is an amazing

piece of engineering. Its 156 metres tall, just under 500 feet. It's just

a bit shorter than Blackpool Tower. I don't know how I'm going get down.

I'll cross that bridge when I come to it! I'll let you into a little

secret, there's a lift up here. This was asked earlier getting all the

people and the kids up to the top of the Humber Bridge. If you look over

the edge, you can see the very first people to experience the Humber

Bridge as a musical instrument. The Swans bend their necks backwards

to see God. They know the magnetism of the blue space. Listening through

headphones, they're hearing a piece of work that combines poetry with

sounds of the bridge as it creaks and sways in the wind. Lucy can

explain. Many of us will have driven across the bridge, taking in the

sights of the Humber River, but this unique project is hoping to inspire

people to walk along its mile long length and get lost in incredible

sounds. The east coast links to Scandinavia go back to the Vikings

so Norwegian composers have been chosen to create a musical guided

walk across the bridge. Today in arctic temperatures, they were

walking the bridge together for the first time. It's really, really cold

here today and it's been snowing and raining. It's a fantastic

construction and so much bigger than I expected. It's been interesting to

walk across the bridge together and to hear the sound of the bridge

itself. Uniquely, it's the noises the bridge makes which will form the

basis of the peace. A field recorder has been given the job of capturing

them. I have to admit I was very sceptical when he started testing

the railings to see which ones sounded the most musical. This one,

maybe this one. This section here. Let's try this. I can't hear a

thing. He sticks little contact microphones onto the railings to

capture their sound. If I play them, you can hear... I can't believe

that. Amazing, isn't it? I take everything back, it's very musical.

And it's these raw sounds that Yanda and how his team have been

transforming into a piece for orchestra and chorus. This is the

sound of the bridge. The plan is to use the voice of the bridge to say

something like, look to the left. When you're walking across the

bridge and you look to the left, you look across the bridge and this

beautiful sound of the orchestra starts playing. It's like film

music. It is beautiful, isn't it? Today, the orchestra is recording

its part. The choral parts have arrived and

the chorus has one day to learn and record them. We have to sing very,

very quietly. That's a challenge because it's quite opposite to what

we are normally asked to do. At Bute Park primary School in Hull,

auditions are taking place for the voice of the Humber Bridge. The

child who will be the narrator on the walk. My name is Katie and I'm

going to keep you company on your journey to the bridge.

Eight-year-old Kate Smith has been chosen to be the voice of the Humber

Bridge. I think it will be a bit weird hearing myself. But it's going

to be pretty cool. It's a long walk ahead, I hope you've got strong

shoes. Look up! Faces an extraordinary, soaring

piece of music and to think it came originally from the very sounds of

the bridge itself. It only really makes sense when you're out here.

Fantastic. That looked amazing. We are going to

have a go. It's an opportunity to walk along an

iconic part of Hull and really enjoy it with an extra experience you

wouldn't normally have the opportunity to do. It was brilliant.

You appreciate the environment more, you're in a zone. It makes you think

differently having the music directing your thinking. It was

good. Amazing, I enjoyed it. Usually I just drive past, but I never walk

across. A long time since I've walked the bridge and this added to

the atmosphere, fantastic. You only have to look across from the Humber

Bridge to see that this is an area which has close links to the scene.

Hull was a major fishing port and one of its sister cities is

Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. Later this month a major music

Festival is planned in the city of culture to celebrate those maritime

links. It's curated by John Grant, an American now living in Iceland.

He showed me around Reykjavik and explain some of the cultural

similarities between the cities. Welcome to Iceland, home of fjords,

trolls and an unexpectedly good football team. But what has it got

to do with Hull? For one thing, Reykjavik is one of Hull's sister

cities. Through the fishing industry, they've traded with each

other for 700 years, sometimes peacefully, sometimes less friendly.

They were both in the world's top ten cities to visit in the rough

guide in 2016. It's said the cobblestones in the old town were

brought from Iceland. But there are also cultural links. North Atlantic

flux, one of the major music Festival is, will celebrate Hull's

Nordic traditions. This is its curator, John Grant. John Grant is

an American that has lived in America -- Reykjavik for the last

five years. He's such an Nordic native that he co-wrote Iceland's

2014 entry to the Eurovision Song Contest. Hello. I meet John at this

coffee shop, his favourite place in Reykjavik and the setting for his

album art. Hull has been on my radar for a long time. Several artists I

admire have connections to Hull, like Tracey Thorn and lain low

pitch. Cosy fantasy. These very female voices from Hull that I've

been listening to and influenced by four decades. Hull is also known for

its resilience, its powerhouse women. Revolutionaries. It's aptly.

It was down to four women who brought about these protests after

the trawler tragedy. Can you take me through the festival you've created?

You'll see a good mixture of what Hull has to offer. Also things from

the north Atlantic. It's quite Scandinavian. And then some of my

favourite things from around Britain. Britain has been

instrumental, pun intended, it in forming my musical DNA and my

musical vocabulary. It's a very, very important place for me. This

festival is no ordinary gig for John. He's genuinely invested in the

story of Hull and its connection to the North Atlantic. He showed me

another favourite spot of his, this church, which is the focal part of

the skyline in Reykjavik. Even though there have been hardships and

some animosity in the past between Iceland and Hull, there are still a

lot of similarities. People are connected to the sea. What that does

in terms of building character and your relationship to nature is

something the two very much have in common. The sea separates us, but it

also gives us this shared history and natural understanding of each

other's heritage. Historically men from both cities would trawl for

fish and these cities, which led to overfishing and a breakdown in

relations, but now through music and art there is a friendship which

thrives on so many levels. That's what John Grant and his friends will

be celebrating in Hull and that's why I'll be there at the front of

the crowd. Still ahead, one of Hull's most famous daughters on

inspiring the next generation of performers. That white-haired women

with spectacles can be on telly and so can I. And the man whose swaps

rock for classical stardom. But first, my guide to some of the other

2017 highlights and a little look ahead at what's to come. In March,

the 75 metre wind turbine blade that sparked a debate about what art is

was moved to a new home. It left a void in the centre of Hull for about

five days. Quickly replaced by the famous weeping window poppy

sculpture. It literally represents a piece of our history that is

relevant now. See what people think. Files feed takes the real

conversations of Hull's young people and act them out with puppets. If

you drive through Hull... You get to Scarborough. An incredible

collection of celebrity portraits is currently on display at the

University of Hull. It's a rare chance to see the entire collection

of paintings by winners of the National BP portrait award. People

are really excited, it's always busy and the gallery has never been this

busy before. It's great to have the publicity. An epic you're --

year-long show continues. Flood. Part one was online and part three

will be broadcast on BBC TV. And there's lots more to come, including

Richard III, starring Matt Frazer, and a piece of theatre by middle

child. It's a play in a nightclub punctuated by live music from local

bands. One of the unexpected things about

city of culture is that it has an unearthed some are mockable success

stories that had either been ignored or forgotten. That story is about

all sorts of culture, and not just obvious ones like music and theatre.

Sport, specifically boxing. Barbara Butterick was born in Hull and she

was the world's first women boxing champion in the 1950s. We sent

former boxing champion Johnny Nelson to meet her. To become the best

boxer in the world, it takes commitment. But for one fighter, the

toughest battle was just to set foot in the ring. Barbara Butterick went

on to become the world's first women's boxing champion. She trained

at the same gym as Mohammed Ali Bhatti under five foot tall, she was

known as the mighty atom. Now 87, it's more than 70 years since she

fell in love with boxing. On my bedroom wall as a kid I had all

boxers. I bought myself a harness thing that you could put a football

in and made a punch bag out of it. I read this in the newspaper. An

article inspired her to make it her career. This is the newspaper

clipping. It tells about Polly Bernsen, who travelled in a boxing

booth. I thought if she could do it so could I. Let me try boxing.

Typist by day, boxer by night, she headed to London to find a trainer

and opponents. I think all this talk about girls not boxing is

old-fashioned. Girls aren't the delicate flowers they used to be.

Anyhow, my boyfriend doesn't mind. Her boyfriend was her trainer, who

she later married. Soon she was making headlines, although none very

positive. The criticism... Did it bother you? Nicki Wood said we made

the front page again. He said don't read it, measure it. She would take

to challenging any woman who challenged her. Fed up with

fairgrounds, she took to fair -- she went to America. This was one

fighter I lost. Look at the size difference! I never fought anybody

my own size. In 1957, came the moment she dreamt

of. She got a professional licence and became the world's first woman

boxing champion. It is nice to know you buy the best in the world. The

title brought her to the epicentre of the boxing world. Miami Beach's

fifth St gym. It is in the new building today but inside, the

history lives on. I see pictures on the wall of non-Muhammad Ali. You

were here when these guys were here? Yes. He was very confident of

himself. She mentioned his name is coming you

talk about these people but these were actually history makers. They

supported me. In 1960, Barbara retired, having won 30 fights. But

she can say goodbye to boxing. She set up women's International Boxing

Federation and gave women titles to fight for, and in 2012, she to

London to watch women box for Olympic medals for the first time in

history. Among them, Nicola Adams. It is because of the like her that I

got into boxing. It been hard for her to keep pushing, keep training

and try to be taken seriously. I've got is a big thank you to Barbara

felt paving the way. She is coming back to visit city macro. Stroke. --

Hull. Southport is this way. It is very easy to get this way, to get

your feet stepped on. If I was a kid today, I would be in my glory, I

would pack my gym bag, walk off the same of anybody off and go in the

gym and work out. I think dystrophy. When Barbara put on a first pair of

boxing glove seven decades ago, she could only dream that girls would be

welcome into boxing gyms. But it could never have happened without

Barbara leading the way. Barbara's life has inspired a

brand-new play. She was finally recognised in her home city at the

women of the world Festival. It started life back in 2011 other

Southbank Centre in London, though it now comes to venues around the

globe. As well as Barbara, it also celebrated the work of Hull

comedians Maureen Lipman and Lucy Beaumont. They recorded play in

front of live audience. She is coming out of my birthday. I want to

go to Amsterdam. Amsterdam? You know what the women do in Amsterdam?

Yeah, what? They make cheese. Maureen Lipman is one of whole's

most famous exports with career, stage, TV spanning five decades.

Do you think there are things of the audience in Hull that will pick up

that went over the heads of Radio 4 audience? I think when I called her

Sophie, I think people will know we are both the real McCoy. It feels

very whole, it feels I like to say -- I hate to say last outpost

because everything now is very buzzy, City of Culture has animated

the place. As a woman worker in the performing arts, do you find you are

treated differently, as a woman? The arts have always been a bit more

level pegging for women, and who would have thought, after the second

wave feminism that the most popular book would have been 50 Shades of

Grey which is very definitely putting us back over a man's knee.

It is just obscene, really. Sometimes, we are just our own worst

enemy. We don't go for it, we don't sit forward, the number of times I

have had women say, I hate my desk, I hate my nose, I hate my breasts, I

hate my legs, not to mention I've never heard a woman say, I was right

for that part and I really deserve it, because they always say, I don't

know why they have chosen the! I went in and I didn't read well and I

couldn't believe I got it. You know, I think ambition is something which

is still regarded as unfeminine. And that is just going to take time. Are

you hoping that you and Lucy being here, as women who have achieved in

the arts and out there showing that women from Hull can do it, are you

hoping that you might make a step towards changing that? I don't

really have the arrogance, yes I am arrogant, but don't really have that

kind of belief that I changing anything, I am just making people

laugh. And I come from Hull. And that is about it, and I think Lucy

would probably agree with me. It is stripped, drip, drip, with women's

rights. A little bit, if there was one kid out there watching him

things, gosh, if that Whitehead woman with spectacles can be on

telly, so can I. Someone living in London, have you count people in the

capital look at hold differently since we became City of Culture? It

has always been regarded with a bit of a snigger, hasn't it? End of the

line, whole, in a sense we engender that ourselves, we put up a barrier

that says we are all right, we don't body need you. Now, people will come

in and see that it is folksy and feisty and funky and the other F

word as well. Is it going to make a permanent difference? You are only

going to find that out when you pay the bills at the end of it? Are you

proud to be from Hull? My pride goes back before City of Culture and I

always, always said I am from Hull, I have joked about it, I have joked

about it, I have been proud about it, I have no need to be in a City

of Culture but I am happy for the city that it has got it. It is about

time we got something. The music on the Humber Bridge is

one of the many pieces specifically commissioned for 2017. There will be

all sorts of styles and genres, including a brand-new work from one

of classical music's real superstars Carl Jenkinson.

Here is Caroline Bilton with more. His music is known to millions, from

IDMS, to his most highly acclaimed and popular piece, the armed man.

Sir Karl Jenkins is Britain does Mac most successful living classical

composer so when whole's Philemon Caulker/ wolf looking for someone to

write a special piece of work -- Hull Orchestra. Why don't we try and

commission a composer to write a piece especially for us. Who better

to go for than coal Jenkins? They are than nation's leading amateur

Symphony Orchestra and have performed in Hull's City Hall for

over 100, they wanted a piece of music that would celebrate it. For a

composer best known for his choral music, it would be a break from the

norm but an opportunity to good to miss. The City of Culture is an

amazing thing. To be part of it is wonderful. This piece ticks all the

boxes. Experimenting with music is how his career began. The last thing

-- time he played in Hull was when performing with a 70s jazz rock

group. But he has never written music for an organ like this before.

In this age nowadays, sounds are digitised and because of that,...

Inside that thing, that is an actual instrument with something hitting

end. When you want to base drum sound, it is the glockenspiel being

hit with hammers. It is quite incredible, really. 6000 pipes is in

his own words, quirky, an oddball, a celebration of Hull's history, its

people, and its traditions. And at its heart, the organ, played by

Jonathan Scott. It has amazing power. There are 95 stops, a full

keyboard and a pedal board you play with your feet, it will bit rate and

Orchestra and the accompaniment. If you think through time, you think

Bach, Beethoven, if they were playing their piece, an amazing

experience. They write these pieces and they are baring their soul and

they put it out there and I wanted to sound great so we are all making

it sound the best that everyone can make it.

The world premiere of 6000 pipes played to a sell-out audience. There

will be another opportunity to hear this unique piece of music in

February of next year. That is it from the top of the

Humber Bridge and our bird's eye view of the City of Culture. I hope

you have enjoyed this show. We will be back next month. We will look

ahead to the weekend, and we will meet the 2017 volunteers. That is

all coming up in May. If you need a culture ticks in the meantime, go to

our website. Goodbye. Bye, now.