Remembered custom
Never wash on sailing day
- Place
- Fishing-family households
- Period / source date
- Remembered in community interviews
Some families avoided washing clothes on the day a fisherman sailed, fearing that it might symbolically wash him away. Interviewees in University of Hull research remember the custom’s importance and its survival in some households.
A washing line makes a simple illustration of the connection families felt between actions at home and a loved one’s safety at sea. The custom was not followed by every household.
Sources: University of Hull dissertation hosted by STAND: section 4.3, Superstition, printed pages 24–25
Back to the collection ↑Remembered taboo
Never ask when he is going back
- Place
- Conversations with returning fishermen
- Period / source date
- Remembered in community interviews
An interviewee recalled avoiding questions about when a fisherman would return to sea: the question could feel as though the speaker was wishing him away.
This is a remembered local social taboo. It helps explain how ordinary words could carry special meaning in a community shaped by dangerous voyages.
Sources: University of Hull dissertation hosted by STAND: section 4.3, Superstition, printed pages 24–25
Back to the collection ↑Fishing superstition
The farewell wave
- Place
- Departures from St Andrew’s Dock
- Period / source date
- Fishing-community tradition
Some fishermen’s wives avoided waving farewell to departing trawlers. Local accounts connect the gesture with the fear of a wave carrying their loved one overboard.
The belief belongs to the community’s departure customs. It should be described as something remembered by some families, rather than a rule observed by everyone.
Sources: Angus Young, Curiosity Hull: What Is Hull’s Unluckiest Address?
Back to the collection ↑Fishing superstition
The forbidden colour green
- Place
- At sea and in Hull homes; a Hessle Road shop anecdote
- Period / source date
- Recorded by Alec Gill
Green was considered unlucky by some fishing families, extending to clothing and household furnishings. Alec Gill also records an anecdote about green bicycles being difficult to sell at Halford’s on Hessle Road.
This is an account of a colour taboo, not a statement that green causes misfortune. Families’ own memories can help show how strongly, and for how long, it was observed.
Sources: Dr Alec Gill, The Hull Hub: Home, Sweet Omens, published online 2020
Back to the collection ↑Word taboo
The animals you mustn’t name
- Place
- Hull fishing crews and families
- Period / source date
- Memoir and oral-history research
George Robinson remembers fishermen substituting “grunter” for “pig”. Alec Gill records Hull trawlermen using alternative names for rabbits, including descriptions of their long ears. The precise taboos and substitutes varied between crews and ports.
These examples are supported by local accounts. Wider stories about fishermen refusing to sail after encountering animals should not automatically be assigned to Hessle Road.
Sources: George Robinson’s Memoirs, Part Five, published by David Robinson · Dr Alec Gill, The Hull Hub: The Mad Month of March, published online 2020
Back to the collection ↑Maritime folk tale
Witches in eggshell boats
- Place
- Wider maritime folklore recorded in Hull’s household traditions
- Period / source date
- Discussed by Alec Gill
Empty eggshells were crushed so witches could not use them as little boats to trouble sailors. Gill includes this maritime belief in his account of Hull households, illustrating it through an older poem about witches putting to sea.
This is a shared maritime legend recorded locally, rather than a story originating solely on Hessle Road. Our illustration is a playful interpretation of the belief.
Sources: Dr Alec Gill, The Hull Hub: Home, Sweet Omens, published online 2020
Back to the collection ↑Remembered fortune-telling
The future in a teacup
- Place
- A fishing-family home in George Robinson’s recollections
- Period / source date
- Personal memoir
George Robinson recalls women gathering in his family home to have their tea leaves read. After their individual readings, they compared the predictions. His memoir gives a personal account of fortune-telling in the community.
The recollection documents a practice, not the accuracy of the predictions. We retain its character as one person’s memory rather than generalising it to every family.
Sources: George Robinson’s Memoirs, Part Five, published by David Robinson
Back to the collection ↑Household omens
Messages in the coal fire
- Place
- Hull fishing-family households
- Period / source date
- Recorded by Alec Gill
Gill records sparks and soot being interpreted as omens of letters, babies or trouble at sea. One mother read steam escaping from coal as a sign that her husband’s ship was preparing to come home.
These are examples of domestic folklore collected locally. They offer an intimate view of how families expressed their hopes and worries through everyday objects.
Sources: Dr Alec Gill, The Hull Hub: Home, Sweet Omens, published online 2020
Back to the collection ↑History behind a nickname
Liverpool Street’s “unluckiest address”
- Place
- 24 Liverpool Street
- Period / source date
- Five losses reported between 1911 and 1940
Research reported by Angus Young connects 24 Liverpool Street with five residents lost in separate tragedies at sea between 1911 and 1940. The address’s ominous nickname reflects repeated human loss; it is not evidence that the house was cursed or haunted.
This deserves a respectful historical account. Original crew, address and loss records should underpin any expanded family histories, with each man remembered as an individual.
Sources: Angus Young, Curiosity Hull: What Is Hull’s Unluckiest Address?
Back to the collection ↑Oral local saying
The Monkey House pub yarn
- Place
- Robbie’s, also remembered as the Old Vic or Monkey House
- Period / source date
- Collected local memories
Collected Hessle Road memories repeat the explanation that the Monkey House got its nickname because sailors brought monkeys there. The source presents this as a saying, rather than a verified account of how the name began.
The name and explanation can be explored through directories, photographs and independent memories. We do not combine this pub yarn with unrelated stories about sailors keeping monkeys at home.
Sources: Unsung Stories: collected Hessle Road memories, Monkey House nickname
Back to the collection ↑Sources & further reading
Some newspaper links require a subscription. Memoirs and oral accounts preserve individual recollections; they should be read with their limits in mind.
- University of Hull dissertation hosted by STAND: section 4.3, Superstition, printed pages 24–25 ↗
- Angus Young, Curiosity Hull: What Is Hull’s Unluckiest Address? ↗
- Dr Alec Gill, The Hull Hub: Home, Sweet Omens, published online 2020 ↗
- George Robinson’s Memoirs, Part Five, published by David Robinson ↗
- Dr Alec Gill, The Hull Hub: The Mad Month of March, published online 2020 ↗
- Unsung Stories: collected Hessle Road memories, Monkey House nickname ↗
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