Hessle Road: Then & Now

Researched 10 October 2026 · A growing community archive

Then: a working road

The road’s story is closely tied to Hull’s fishing community, shops and transport. Electric trams became part of Hull’s streets in 1899. Photographer Alec Gill began recording the Hessle Road area in 1971, preserving everyday moments and the people behind the history.

Now: keeping memories alive

HessleRoad.com is part of Hull Creative Skills and Heritage CIC. The Vauxhall Tavern and café at 1 Hessle Road are part of the project, alongside plans for a heritage centre and upstairs creative workshops and classrooms.

Your photographs can connect the years

We would love to pair older photographs with new views of the same place. Send the location, approximate date, names you know and permission to publish with your photograph.

Your part of the story

What do you remember?

Send a photograph, family memory, name or correction. Include the place, approximate date, the people you recognise and permission to publish.

Email Info@hessleroad.com ↗Contribution guidance →

Research sources & illustration notes

This is a thematic Then & Now illustration, rather than a matched pair of historical and modern photographs. The upper scene is a composite artistic impression. The lower scene follows the real Vauxhall’s architecture from an undated reference photograph, with an illustrated gathering representing the project’s purpose. It does not show a completed heritage centre.