Sutton-on-Hull: Life in Yorkshire's 'village within a city' that has retained its history despite change around it

But you would in fact be surrounded by the suburbs of north Hull, even if it did not feel like it.

Hull’s ‘village within a city’ as it is known is the last hold out of a time gone by, preserved now with its high street of shops, pubs and the medieval St James’ Church.

People living, volunteering and working in Sutton told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that despite the housing development which has swallowed up the surroundings, the place still retains its quaint village feel.

Despite changes here and there, they said a community spirit which still remains, evident in how people rallied together after a rare break-in at the British Red Cross charity shop.

‘A break-in like that is unusual’

Stewart Oldridge said he had always felt secure living in Sutton. He added his favourite part of life there was feeling that everyone looked out for each other.

He said: “I’ve lived in Sutton for a year, I got a flat here after I split up with my partner.

“Sutton’s fantastic, it’s a nice little place to be especially if you’ve got a dog, I walk mine around here quite often. It’s got two lovely pubs.

“What I like about it most of all is that everyone’s so friendly, everyone looks after each other, you feel very secure here.

“The only bit of trouble we’ve had recently was that the Red Cross charity shop got broken into, someone smashed their window and broke out again with a fire extinguisher.

“It was strange hearing that a charity shop had been robbed, I think it’s low for someone to do that. I know the lady who works there and everyone rallied around them, they got a new window. A break-in like that is unusual for here, other than that I’d say it’s almost crime-free.

“The church here is fantastic too, I’ve decided I’m about to start going because I had a tumour but I’ve just been given the all clear.

“I was a chef when I was younger but I’m unemployed at the moment, I’ve just joined a club here where everyone knows how to do something and they offer to do jobs for people.

“If someone wants a fence building say, then someone will go and build it for them.

“There’s lots of greenery around here which is good because I find it hard being in the house for too long. I know my neighbours and they’re all fantastic, if I forget to the lock the door I don’t worry too much when I realise because I feel like I have peace of mind here.

“I have a collection of old pictures of Sutton, my grandmother lived here so it’s nice to see how the village looked when she was young.

“I grew up in the Avenues and when I was looking at moving to the north Hull area I was worried at first because you here all sorts about it.

“But now I’m here I love it.”

‘It’s like a movie facade’

Peter Blyth, who grew up in Sutton and now volunteers at the Sutton and Wawne Museum, said despite outward appearances, there have been changes since his childhood.

He said: “I was brought up here and my dad and his seven siblings were as well, his name’s on the war memorial, he was in the army and died in the war.

“On the face of it it seems like not much has changed, but there are a few buildings that were here when I was young which aren’t any more.

“I remember going to auditions for the church choir here, but now there’s no church choir or bell-ringers either.

“During the war three bombs fell on Sutton, one of them fell on the street where I grew up but that was just before I was born, you can still see where it fell.

“I joined the army in 1957 and I got married in 1962 so I moved away from Sutton then, but I still volunteer here.

“It’s nice to come back to where I grew up, but although it looks like it hasn’t changed very much really it has, the outside appearance of it is like a movie facade.

“It has the same feel but there are a lot of newcomers here now.”

‘We wouldn’t want to move’

Mr and Mrs Wilkinson said their attachment to the village was personal, with many of their family members having weddings and being christened in the local church.

Mrs Wilkinson said: “We’ve lived here for 27 years, it’s very handy having all the shops here on the high street but there’s a lot more traffic than there used to be.

“There’s plenty of things going on here, the churches run groups for people, there’s events happening all the time.

“We’ve visited the village church quite a bit, we’ve had a lot of family weddings and christenings there.

“It must have about eight hairdressers and nail salons and it’s got the two pubs, they’re always full of people.

“We don’t really have any problems with antisocial behaviour or anything like that, the only thing I can think that’s happened recently is a few windows that have been broken.

“We wouldn’t want to move, it’s perfect for us here.”

‘It’s a really quaint place’

Marie, a worker at the British Red Cross charity shop, said her and others there were heartened when the community came together following the break-in there in February.

She said: “I don’t live here myself, but from what I see it has a lovely little village feel.

“We have a lot of customers who come in here often and everyone’s so nice and they’re almost like friends to us, it’s a really quaint place.

“They do village fetes at the church and there’s even a little museum here too, there’s all sorts of quirky things like that here.

“We suffered a break-in in February, they also targeted the church and the tanning shop.

“The amount of people who came together to help us was so lovely to see, we even had people baking scones for us to help keep us going.

“Someone offered to repair our broken window for free too.

“I’ve worked here for three years, that sort of thing doesn’t happen around here, it was really shocking.

“I think there were thieves going around and targeting the area at the time and they just happened to target us.

“The only issue seems to be that there’s a few empty shops and businesses, no one seems to be taking them on, I think that’s to do with inflation.

“We’re grateful for what we do have, but I think it could do with some new life coming in.

“The ones that do start up here always seem to do well and thrive.”

‘Amazed’ by visitors from overseas

Colin Hill, a volunteer at Sutton and Wawne Museum, said the appeal of the village extended beyond the community itself, drawing in people from across the country and the world.

He said: “I’m always amazed by the amount of visitors we get from other parts of England and even other countries who come here to see where they grew up.

“We get Americans and Australians particularly, people in their 60s and 70s who emigrated when they were young and who were brought up here.

“They come here for a last trip to see England and where they’re from.

“There were American soldiers stationed here during the Second World War and a woman from the village met one and became a GI bride, she married him and went off to live in the US.

“Recently we had an American woman who came here with her two daughters, she’d come to see where her mother who married the soldier had grown up.”