Photograph: Lottie Davies/Guardian
Whenever I visited this RSPB reserve as a kid, I remember seeing loads of puffins. Apparently there are around 200,000 seabirds there - it must have taken someone ages to count them. But whether you’re into birdwatching or not, it’s a great place to go. Make sure you pack a fleece though, as it gets pretty chilly up there.
• Near Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, YO15 1JF rspb.org.uk/reserves Photograph: Lottie Davies/Guardian
This is a really unusual restaurant in Hull, full of character. It has rooms all at different levels – little havens, nooks and crannies – and it only opens when there are enough people for a large booking. The person who places the booking chooses the cuisine – anything from Thai to Italian – which they then serve as a buffet. It’s very reasonably priced, too.
• 1 Bishop Lane, High Street, Hull, HU1 1PA hitchcocksrestaurant.co.uk Photograph: Lottie Davies/Guardian
This museum was built as a gun battery, then closed in the first world war as it was too close to Hull. In the 1960s, a group of volunteers opened it as a museum. There’s a brilliant waxworks section, with figures from the fort’s history, including Henry VIII; and if you like battle re-enactments, this is your place. There’s also a great B&B nearby called Paull Holme Farm, with a cool spiral staircase.
• Foul Paull is open from March 1. Near Paull, East Riding of Yorkshire, HU12 8FP. fortpaull.com
• Paull Holme Farm, Thorngumbald Road, Paull HU12 8AX paullholmefarmbedandbreakfast.co.uk Photograph: Lottie Davies/Guardian
This is just a really friendly, lovely cafe. They cook all their food fresh on the premises. I warmly recommend the jacket potatoes. I assume the name isn’t a reference to the diet of the same name that everyone seems to be doing at the moment. I’ve just finished filming Shameless; one of the guys on the set was doing that diet, and kept looking like he was about to faint.
• 4 South Cliff Road, Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, YO15 3AT fiveandtwocafe.co.uk Photograph: Lottie Davies/Guardian
This theatre champions local writers and performers, and the standard is high: you can just turn up and see whatever’s on. I’ve performed there twice. I particularly loved the dressing-rooms – you feel that so much has gone on there; all those nerves, and their aftermath. This place just feels really steeped in history.
• 50 Ferensway, Hull, HU2 8LB hulltruck.co.uk Photograph: Lottie Davies/Guardian
Apparently this is John Prescott’s favourite Chinese restaurant. He and Tony Blair went there once and did some kind of deal. Our old neighbours, who lived down the road when I was a baby, took me there. You have to go down a dual carriageway to get there – it feels like being in LA – and on Friday nights it turns into a disco.
• St Andrews Quay, Hull, HU3 4SA mrchus.com Photograph: Lottie Davies/Guardian
When I was little, I was always told that this monolith – apparently the tallest standing stone in the UK – had fossilised dinosaur footprints along one side. I have no idea if that’s true (I suspect not), but it’s still an incredible monument in an incredible setting. It’s in the middle of a graveyard – it looks like the headstone for a massive giant’s grave.
• Rudston Churchyard, East Riding of Yorkshire, YO25 rudston.org.uk Photograph: Lottie Davies/Guardian
