Cornwall Street in 1960

Here's a rare photo showing Cornwall Street in 1960. At first glance, it looks much the same as it does today. Ivor Dewdney's shop can be seen on the right and is still in the same place today and just as popular. Does anyone remember the cat that used to sit in the window? He probably wouldn't be allowed in there today!
It's hard to make out any of the names of the other shops in the photo but most, if not all, will have changed ownership over the years. Of course. Woolworth's further up the street is also now long gone. The memorable shop I remember in Cornwall Street but at the other end, was the Magnet where we'd go for our dinner every Saturday before returning home by 4pm to watch the wrestling on World of Sport.
Surprisingly, even though the road wasn't pedestrianised then, there's very little traffic travelling up and down the road. The parked cars look very old-fashioned, I can recognise a Triumph Herald, compared to today's cars as does the way people dressed at the time.
It's odd to think that this photo was taken 51 years ago. In some ways, nothing seems to have changed but in other ways, everything seems to have changed!

Lopwell Dam

Here's an old photo of Lopwell taken in 1936. It features members of the rowing club of St George's Methodist Church.
The photo is interesting because so much has changed in the background. The house still stands, although slightly altered and, of course, today, Lopwell Dam is positioned where the rowers are on their boat. Until the 1980s, it was possible to walk by the house, watch the salmon in the leap and feed the swans by the riverside. Today, however, the area is fenced off and gated.

The second photo was taken on Good Friday in 1957 and shows a couple of boys from St Budeaux on a trip to Lopwell with their teacher. The view remains much the same today. It's interesting seeing the early colour used in this photo and it looks like it might have been hand-tinted.

The final photo shows the house and the area as it is today. I'm not sure when the walkway across the river was put in although the stones used look very old. Nowadays, the water pumping station, which was used in BBC TV's 'The Vet' several years ago, is now a popular cafe.

Photos from Plymouth's Past

Here are some lovely photos kindly lent to me by Gary Fawbert. The photos were taken by Gary's late grandfather who was a keen photographer and developed most of his own films. All photos seem to have been taken in about 1937.
The first photo shows a rare shot of the Gaumont Theatre in Union Street. The Gaumomt Palace was opened in 1931 and, much later, became the New Odeon. The building, although empty, still stands today. Showing at the Gaumont at the time the photo was taken was 'Melody For Two' and 'Jungle Princess'. There are several pushbikes and a child can be seen passing the cinema pushing a doll's pram. The Union Street arch can be seen in the background together with a strange contraption attached to a motor bike.

The second photo shows the bandstand on Plymouth Hoe. The bandstand was very popular but was dismantled in the Second World War so that its metal could be used to help the war effort. The photo shows many people, some with prams, gathered to watch the next concert. The third photo shows a ship passing by Mount Batten. The RAF station would have still been there at the time and one of its officers would have been TE Shaw (Lawrence of Arabia).

They're a great set of photos and I hope to include more in a future blog.

The Odeon, New George Street

Here's a lovely old postcard showing Plymouth and the newly-built New George Street. On the left is the Odeon which, along with the Western Morning News building, was one of the few buildings to survive the heavy bombing during the Second World War. The Odeon was later demolished and replaced with the Littlewoods building which, in later years, became TJ Hughes and, today, now stands empty.
To the left of the Odeon is Nuttalls which was a well-known shop in Plymouth for many years after.
It all looks very new and clean and although there are many pedestrians, it looks very empty. It's certainly changed over the years!

Tamar Bridge 50th Anniversary Fireworks

Many people would have missed the fireworks on the Tamar Bridge last night when it celebrated its 50th anniversary. More people seem to have known about it on the Saltash side than people in Plymouth. The display started at 8pm with fireworks being fired from a boat on the Tamar before the main fireworks were set off on the bridge. Luckily, I could watch it from my house and it was definately one of the best firework displays I've ever seen.
Looking on YouTube, many people seemed to have filmed it so, if you missed it, here it is again!

This film was uploaded by Tony Hackley and there are many more videos of the fireworks on the site.

Plymouth Monopoly

The new Plymouth Monopoly is launched today and features many historical sites around Plymouth.
I took a lot of the photos that are featured on the lid and board and there's a few shots of where I live, Saltash Passage (it even has it's own square!). There's also photos of Smeaton's Tower, Plymouth Argyle, The Merchant's House, the Duke of Cornwall Hotel, the Barbican, Saltram, the Citadel etc.
It's certainly a very colourful board and I'm sure lots of people will buy it for Christmas. For people with sharp eyes, my little Westie appears on the lid somewhere. See if you can spot her (no, she's not one of the counters!).
Other photos on the lid and board were taken by Ken Taylor and James Wells. Many of Ken's photos are on Flickr at www.flickr.com/photos/yadrad.

Palace Theatre Programme from 1951

Kevin Glynn recently kindly sent me a very interesting old programme from the Palace Theatre. Kevin runs his own business, 'Glynn Services' which deals with house clearances and waste removals.

The programme dates from September 1951 and the main show that week came from the Combined Amateur Dramatic Societies of Plymouth who performed a production of 'If I Were King'. The programme contains all the signatures of everyone who took part in the production but all are now long forgotten.

The following week's shows are advertised and include 'three world famous musicals' which were 'Chu Chin Chow', 'Lilac Domino' and 'Merrie England'. 

The programme also features many interesting local adverts which included one for the Greyhound Inn at Millbay which was advertised as the 'Little House with the Big Reputation', one for Pamela N. Le Grice (dressmaking at its very best) and one for George's Laundry whose slogan was 'For Good Work'. There's also an advert for a trade that definitely seems a thing of the past, 'The Doll's Hospital'. They specialised in wigs, eyes and restringing and were located at Ebrington Street. Other adverts include a very 1950s style one for Plymouth Breweries. On the back is an advert for the Radio Times in the days when there was only one channel but you could still find something more interesting to watch than you can nowadays!

It's a great little programme and I'm very appreciative to Kevin for sending it to me.