Reported haunting
The Old Ropery
West Dock Avenue, off Hessle Road
Read the account →Hessle Road after dark / Tales, traditions & memories
Ghosts, folklore
& superstitions.
The stories told over a pint.
The customs carried out before a ship sailed.
Discover the strange tales and everyday beliefs of Hessle Road and its surrounding neighbourhood. Six reported ghost stories and ten traditions offer another way into our community’s past.
View the full illustration ↗How to read these stories
A little mystery.
A strong sense of place.
Reported experiences
The ghost accounts record what people said they experienced. Publication does not establish a supernatural explanation.
Remembered traditions
Superstitions come from interviews, memoirs and folklore research. Customs varied between families, crews and generations.
History and place
Each entry identifies its location and evidence. Nearby stories are labelled, and research questions remain visible.
Find a thread to follow
Sixteen tales & traditions.
16 tales and traditions
Reported disturbance
The raining-soot disturbance
Unidentified private flats on Hessle Road
Read the account →Published local claim
The Alexandra’s haunted reputation
Alexandra Hotel, Hessle Road
Read the account →Historical newspaper story
The Wellington Lane ghost scare
Anlaby Road side of the neighbourhood; later Day Street alignment
Read the account →Reported pub haunting
The cellar presence at the Whittington & Cat
Commercial Road, adjoining the eastern end of the Hessle Road area
Read the account →Personal reported experience
A haunting said to follow its witness
Redbourne Street off Hessle Road; several other homes in the account
Read the account →Remembered custom
Never wash on sailing day
Fishing-family households
Read the account →Remembered taboo
Never ask when he is going back
Conversations with returning fishermen
Read the account →Fishing superstition
The farewell wave
Departures from St Andrew’s Dock
Read the account →Fishing superstition
The forbidden colour green
At sea and in Hull homes; a Hessle Road shop anecdote
Read the account →Word taboo
The animals you mustn’t name
Hull fishing crews and families
Read the account →Maritime folk tale
Witches in eggshell boats
Wider maritime folklore recorded in Hull’s household traditions
Read the account →Remembered fortune-telling
The future in a teacup
A fishing-family home in George Robinson’s recollections
Read the account →Household omens
Messages in the coal fire
Hull fishing-family households
Read the account →History behind a nickname
Liverpool Street’s “unluckiest address”
24 Liverpool Street
Read the account →Oral local saying
The Monkey House pub yarn
Robbie’s, also remembered as the Old Vic or Monkey House
Read the account →No matching tales. Try another place or custom.
Your family’s version
What did your grandparents tell you?
A remembered warning, an old pub tale or a strange experience can add another voice to the archive. Tell us where it happened, roughly when, who told the story and whether it is your own experience or something passed down.
Share a tale with Info@hessleroad.com ↗We check and label contributions before publication. Please include permission to publish and any supporting reference.