No mystery as award-winning centre brings history back to life

The youngsters, aged between six and 13, have been working all week at Hull's History Centre on Noah's Flood.

The script's exact wording has been lost in the mists of time, but accounts of the play are still held in the archives.

Mystery plays began nearly 700 years ago. After that, churches used drama to tell traditional stories but when this stopped townspeople – probably fishermen and dockworkers – started putting the plays on themselves, carrying an elaborate model of a boat round the town once a year.

And, the timber arcade that forms an impressive entrance to the centre has scooped a top award.

The British Timber Industry's annual Wood Awards promote outstanding design, craftsmanship and installation in wood. and this year's judges called the design by architects Pringle Richards Sharratt "elegant and clever".

The structure was manufactured by carpentry specialists Kingston Craftsmen based in Hull's Cannon Street.

The main feature of the design is the wave-shaped beams spanning the full length of the building, giving a variety of shapes to the exterior profile.