There’s an unassuming shopfront on Market Place in Hull’s Old Town where, underneath the 1950s-style signs, behind the brass-bound clocks, compasses, barometers and telescopes which jostle for space in the windows, the business of B. Cooke and Son quietly takes place.br Cooke’s has the feeling of a living museum, one of the last vestiges of the city’s nautical past, but while the maritime fortunes of Hull may have changed greatly overbr years, there’s a feeling that somehow time stands still at Cooke’s.br That’s Cooke with an ‘e’ - unlike the more famous explorer, Captain James Cook,br also born in Yorkshire - but the name also comes with quite a story…br Barnard Cooke – an optician by trade - clearly had an eye for opportunity. Back inbr the 1840s and 50s he’d learned his craft alongside his brother, the renowned clockbr maker Thomas Cooke of York. Thomas was a bit of a star – son of a Pocklingtonbr shoemaker, he was a self-taught mathematician and physicist who carved out abr reputation building telescopes, later opening a shop in York, then a factory, as hisbr reputation as a manufacturer of excellent optical instruments spread around thebr world.br Thomas’s younger brother Barnard had been his right-hand man as the businessbr grew, but by the early 1860s Barnard was ready to strike out on his own.br The first rail links between York and Hull had been established in the 1840s, newbr fishing grounds had just been discovered, this is the peak of Victorian prosperity, Hullbr was a major trading port with Europe and the city was booming.br Barnard set up shop bang in the centre of town, close to the busy Queens Dock,br where he began to supply the nautical trade with compasses, sextants, barometers,br clocks and telescopes.br B Cooke and Son grew with the city’s fortunes. Solid and reliable, a Cooke compassbr became the captain’s choice, synonymous with quality.br Over the years, the business changed hands and moved premises, finally coming tobr rest in the mid-1950s in its current location.br Brian Walker is 71 - and still making compasses – but he was just 15 years old inbr 1968 when he became an apprentice compass maker at Cooke’s.br “Back then the docks were filled with boats.” remembers Brian, “We had a van thatbr used to go there twice a day and each time he’d come back with a tea chest full ofbr br gauges, sextants, compasses, chronometers, barometers for fixing – we had to sortbr them before the ship sailed.br “We had 25 staff – you had the office staff, then the chart department, the gaugebr department, the sextant department, then on top of the building was the compassbr department.br “You could walk out the door and get anything you needed to do the job – all thebr suppliers where there - Humber Rubber, Humber Electricals - there were ship’sbr agents, chandlers, shipyards that you were supplying, all that expertise – there wasbr always somebody behind a counter that would help you.