Family of folk singer and song writer Lal Waterson in Hull for unveiling of plaque in her honour

One of the famed Waterson family, the singer spent the latter part of her life working from her home in Robin Hood’s Bay, although she originally hailed from Hull.

Along with brother Mike Waterson, sister Norma Waterson and cousin John Harrison, Lal was at the forefront of the Sixties folk revival.

They began singing in public at the Jacaranda coffee bar in Hull city centre, before starting one of earliest folk clubs of the day, at the Old Blue Bell, establishing a reputation as pioneers of English traditional music revival.

Frost and Fire: A Calendar of Ritual and Magical Songs, was the first album in 1965, followed in 1966 by A Yorkshire Garland.

It was at 160 Park Avenue that Lal Waterson wrote 1972’s groundbreaking Bright Phoebus. One of the songs, Red Wine Promises, was inspired by a night out with her husband, George Knight, and coming back home through Pearson Park.

Her children Marry and Oliver - both recording artists - and sister Norma Waterson hopes to be there along with Lal’s niece Eliza Carthy and brother-in-law Martin Carthy.

Lal Waterson died of cancer in September 1998, aged just 55. Her uncompromising songs have been described as high poetry, raising deep and soulful mysteries. And Mojo magazine rated Lal as “up with Nick Drake and Richard Thompson in the very front rank of English songwriters”.

The plaque was paid for by the Avenues and Pearson Park Residents Association at the suggestion of resident Geoff Lawes.

Marry Waterson said: “This is a lovely honour for our mum. We all have such great memories of living in Hull, nestled in the grace of the tree-lined Avenues.”

A documentary, following the group on the folk club circuit, at home and in studios, called “Travelling For A Living” can be watched free on the British Film Institute website.