Even if you've never been there, you can't help assuming that Hull is a depressing place to be. Maybe it's the dangerous promixity of words "Hull" and "Hell". Maybe it's the knowledge that Hull was, for some 30 years, home to miserablist poet Philip Larkin. Maybe it's the unattractive way in which Hull's residents insist on pronouncing "Hull" as "'ull", "bloke" as "blerk" and "don't know" as "derrn't nerr". But, all in all, you'd probably rather not visit. And as for spending a whole weekend in Hull . . . well, no thanks.

However, this month, that's what I did. I got into a car, drove more than 200 miles from London to the north of England, and checked into a hotel in Hull city centre for two days. And, as masochistic as it sounds, I actually volunteered to go. The reason? The publication of a book entitled Crap Towns, which lists the 50 worst places to live in the UK according to the results of an internet poll organised by The Idler magazine. Released this week, it ranks Hull at number one.