Portobello, Edinburgh’s seaside gem, is packed with ghost stories, terrifying sightings and disturbing events. Writer KERRIE POWELL delves into the ghostly stories that haunt this coastal town
Portobello, or Porty if you’re local, heralds the title of Edinburgh’s Seaside and remains a thriving seaside community today. The area is home to numerous notable former residents and a terrifying legacy of ghost stories.
Portobello’s glorious promenade remains a welcome sight all year round. Whether embraced by wild swimmers or summer revelers, the ball remains popular throughout. Impressive Victorian buildings dot the landscape, and many are still active. According to many, the Dalriada is the most remarkable.
Built in 1869 by architect James Campbell Walker, the building began its life as a private residence known as The Beachborough Villa. In the 1970s it became a hotel, originally called The Temple Hall Hotel and later The Dalriada. It is from this period that our story begins.
During our North Edinburgh Nightmares Portobello Ghost Walk we told two stories related to The Dalriada. Both stories were told to John Tantalon during meetings with witnesses at the hotel. The first was the story of The Great Lafayette, and the second was of a Porty resident who once occupied a haunted house in the Restalrig area. During our walks we discovered even more incidents from the history of the Dalriada.
The building was then for sale. The person who relayed the events to me insisted that we not use the stories in case they affected the sale of the property. It has now been sold! So please.
The witness worked at The Dalriada in the 1980s. More than once a mysterious figure was sighted at the upstairs window. The ghostly woman stared down at the witness as she was in the beer garden below.
Another unexplained incident during the woman’s stay at the hotel occurred at night. She woke up to the disturbing sound of beer kegs rattling from downstairs. Fearing burglars, the woman and her husband quietly went downstairs, but were not confronted by anyone in the building. This incident happened several times, always after midnight. They never found anything disturbed in any part of the building.
Portobello Ghost Walk
My favorite story from the Dalriada came to me through a participant in the Portobello ghost walk. By mid-summer we had contact with other residents and companies along the way. One woman who runs a beach hut near the Dalriada checked in on each walk to discover new stories. A neighbor at the top of the street presented a life-size toy dog in her window, which moved around and waved at startled ghost walkers. Back to the Dalriada.
The woman who was walking that evening informed the group that she had also worked at the hotel before. Her time at the hotel was in the 1970s, when she worked as a bar staff. Her story was not supernatural, but a story of coincidence. She said that there was a well-known story among the staff about a bar stool.
The stool was nothing spectacular and generally insignificant. Existing staff told her that any woman who had regular bowel movements would become pregnant within a month. The woman, who already had two children at the time, laughed heartily at the tall story. She thought the story was a lot of nonsense and sat defiantly on the stool. Unfortunately, her employment with the Dalriada came to an end later in the year. Family obligations prevented her from returning after her maternity leave ended.
Located at 2 Joppa Road is an exceptional property. If state-of-the-art hi-fi equipment is your thing, look no further. Hi-Fi Corner opened its doors to the Porty crowd in 2019. During the first week of work, the manager had a chat with a neighbor. The man wished him well with the new venture and asked if “Has he seen the ghost yet?” The startled manager responded with a rather shocked ‘No’. He was able to do some digging and relay the story to me.
The building at Joppaweg 2 has existed in various guises for years. For a time it sold grand pianos; there is a sister company in Elm Row in Leith. Before that, there was a lumber yard on the property and at one point it was a Datsun car dealership. Years ago, the building served as a vehicle showroom. This section is where our story begins.
Based on the information gathered, the following events occurred sometime in the 1960s (unconfirmed). The building functioned as a car showroom and garage called Cowans. A Datsun car showroom would occupy the building in the 1980s under the John Martin Group.
Details are undoubtedly scarce, but after much research I have determined the following events: During the Cowans’ ownership, the building contained showroom cars in the front and a garage on the right side of the rear. The garage area backed onto Bedford Terrace at the rear of the building and was next to a row of garages. It was here in the garage that disaster struck.
My witness claims that garage workers discovered a dead woman in the garage. The woman was crushed under the large metal ramps that raised vehicles for maintenance. How the tragedy occurred, or the identity of the woman, is unknown, but the tragedy may have been the catalyst for the terrifying events.
The neighbor stated that previous residents of the building claimed to have witnessed a ghostly white hand at the rear of the property. Terrified employees have fled into the street after experiencing the ghostly hand. One witness claims the hand reaches around the corner of the wall to grab an unsuspecting host. Could this be a reflection of the tragedy in Cowans’ garage many years ago?
Two more coincidences would occur during our season of ghost walks. We are behind the former garage in the back row on Bedford Terrace. On the second night of the Portobello ghost walk, a participant expressed concern about someone pushing her. The woman asked the person next to her if it was them, but they were convinced they had not been near her. During a later ghost walk in the summer months, a participant stated that they had two dead arms, numb and little feeling. Both incidents took place at the rear of the Cowans garage and on both occasions those present felt fine after leaving the area.
At the end of the alley is an old wall. Although unremarkable, the plastered structure stands at a height of 6 feet and has attracted interest during the ghost walks. One participant stated that her house was across the road and that she had continually asked her children not to go near the wall. As she reflected that evening, she had no idea why she had worried about the wall all these years. It just didn’t feel right. Another visitor was attracted by the plants growing on top of the wall. The woman claimed the wall was both “repulsive and utterly dead.” The search continues to obtain more details about the area and its stories.
Have you seen anything spooky in Portobello? Tell us in the comments below!
Kerrie Powell is a fifth generation Portobello resident. Her work appears in Tales from the Crypts of Auld Reekie by John S. Tantalon, from Saber Press, is available from North Edinburgh Nightmares website And Amazon.
