catgate Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 I have been visiting this site on and off for quite a while now, and I find there are an awful lot of very interesting old pictures. There may be other WF folk who also might find it interesting. I have spent hours on it just wandering around the England.http://www.francisfrith.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Very interesting indeed. I won't however be buying anything. If we did, it would be looked at once and then put away to gather dust. Thanks for the link. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devanski Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Nice link catgate. I changed it to Scotland though and searched Paisley. I thought it interesting that one of the comments was as follows..."I remember being very happy growing up as a child in Paisley. One of my happiest memories was being given a golliwog outfit from the Robertson's jam factory. A certain amount was given out every year at Halloween by the factory.I used to enjoy the Library and Museum which I visited each week, and as I got older the visits became more frequent.I remember thinking how vast Coat's Mill was and how lovely the river that ran past it looked - sadly the mill has now been renovated into flats"Quite topical given Carol Thatcher's recent comments :0 That factory was just up the road from where I was born and I used to have all the metal pin badges of the various... **ahem**... 'figures'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalph Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 I had a look at the photo's for Washington on that site. Very interesting to see the difference now compared to what is was like then.The Smithy down on The Green in Washington Village now belongs to a friend of mine and is a restaurant. When that picture was taken it was a pottery. A lot of The Shopping Centre as seen in the photographs was Old Washington before the New Town was built. Sadly very few shops in the old photo are still there today as the new Town Centre is located about one and a half miles to the South and has taken all the trade away. A very good site catgate. Nice find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted February 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Glad you liked it Gandalph.I was facinated by the old Bradford photographs. There are a couple of Town Hall Square, with trams on, at the terminus for the route I used for years. That take me back to my youth, as do the pictures of Bradford Tech. The thing that strikes me most about much of what I have seen, particularly about Bradford, but I suppose just as relevant to everywhere else, is how many irreplacable, beautiful, sturdy and graceful buildings have been wantonly destroyed in the heedless rush for profit, under the guise of "progress". Shameful. There was a beatiful building, called Swan Arcade, which was situted betwen Market Street and Broadway. This was demolished in a "feeding frenzy" in about the later 50s and replaced with a "modern" structure, which itself suffered a similar sacrificial slaughter, and would you believe that is now being repeated once more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalph Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Glad you liked it Gandalph.I was facinated by the old Bradford photographs. There are a couple of Town Hall Square, with trams on, at the terminus for the route I used for years. That take me back to my youth, as do the pictures of Bradford Tech.The thing that strikes me most about much of what I have seen, particularly about Bradford, but I suppose just as relevant to everywhere else, is how many irreplacable, beautiful, sturdy and graceful buildings have been wantonly destroyed in the heedless rush for profit, under the guise of "progress". Shameful.There was a beatiful building, called Swan Arcade, which was situted betwen Market Street and Broadway. This was demolished in a "feeding frenzy" in about the later 50s and replaced with a "modern" structure, which itself suffered a similar sacrificial slaughter, and would you believe that is now being repeated once more.I know exactly what you mean catgate.I remember a number of Building Department Councillors going on a trip to Austria and commenting on the 'Beautiful old buildings that really give Vienna it's character'. When they came back they ripped down the Old Sunderland Council building, which gave Sunderland a lot of it's character, to make way for a 'Modern Council Building' which looks totally out of place in today's Town Centre scheme. Then they knocked down the Gillbridge Police Station, in it's own right it was monument to craftsmanship, then The Old Baths. Not content on that lot they then proceeded to knock down two streets of 'Ye Olde Shoppes' to make way for what is known as 'The Bridges' by them. It's known as an eye-sore by the locals. Then next to go was the Ice Rink to make way for a multi-storey car park. In all, they made a right bloody mess of what I knew as a child as Sunderland Town Centre. I fancy these back-handers are a very strong influence on modern architecture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalph Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 I have just been back on the photo site and found this piccy. Notice the Old Town Hall on the left-hand side, the one with the clock in the tower.Old Town Hall . I am going to have a look around a few web sites and try and find a picture of the new one. If I manage to find it please have a bucket stood by in which to vomit. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchful Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Thanks for an interesting link. Most of the old buildings in our town are still intact, except for the cinemas, but it is noticeable how many others have sprung up around them so that their features are no longer outstanding as they once were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 You should all see what they have done to the centre of Birmingham. The heart has been torn out of it and replaced with glass, steel and concrete. The parent company of my last employer was based in Germany in a town by the name of Reutlingen. On one visit for a sales meeting I remarked how the town had got off lightly in the war. I was told that in fact it was virtually flattened. It had been rebuilt in the traditional German style externally, but with all mod cons inside. How I wish that Birmingham had not now become such a heartless looking place. No doubt Alan Ho will be able to confirm this. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalph Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 You should all see what they have done to the centre of Birmingham. The heart has been torn out of it and replaced with glass, steel and concrete. The parent company of my last employer was based in Germany in a town by the name of Reutlingen. On one visit for a sales meeting I remarked how the town had got off lightly in the war. I was told that in fact it was virtually flattened. It had been rebuilt in the traditional German style externally, but with all mod cons inside. How I wish that Birmingham had not now become such a heartless looking place. No doubt Alan Ho will be able to confirm this. :DWhat?. No Bullring Centre? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted February 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 I remember the Bullring as it was in 1944 and am sure there were iron rings in the road. We were waiting at a bus stop for what seemed like hours. My mother, my sister and I were going to stay with an Aunt who lived in Meridan, and father was coming on leave there for a couple of days.I returned to the Bullring some time in the earlyish 80s but I could not see it. It had gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted February 13, 2009 Report Share Posted February 13, 2009 Birmingham Bull Ring.More.More still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalph Posted February 13, 2009 Report Share Posted February 13, 2009 The last time I was there was in the 70's. It was shortly after I started up the Haulage Company. We used to deliver Into Selfridge's that's how I got to see the place for the fist time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artist Posted February 13, 2009 Report Share Posted February 13, 2009 That was interesting. I looked up Cippenham (near Slough, Bucks) Took me back to my childhood. The pond there used to seem huge. More like a big puddle now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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