Old King Street and Horsefair - 1955 and 2014 At the time of the - TopicsExpress



          

Old King Street and Horsefair - 1955 and 2014 At the time of the 1955 photo the old buildings in Old King St had been demolished and the new shops were nearing completion. In the background the metal skeleton of Jones’s new store is also almost complete. Two bus passengers wait at the temporary bus stop and an old fashioned Rolls Royce is parked outside the Baptist Church, out of sight on the right - it was one of the last buildings to be demolished. Jones’s had originally occupied their well-known store in pre-war Wine St and High St, but this was completely destroyed in the blitz of November 1940. Despite this the business survived throughout the 1940s, spread over eight temporary premises around the city. When the Broadmead shopping centre was planned, Jones’s insisted on choosing their own site for their new flag-ship store. The steel- framed Portland stone building was opened in May, 1957 and at that time employed 750 people. The store subsequently became Debenham’s in 1972. As today’s photo shows Old King St, which is now the northern arm of Merchant St, is pedestrianised - its former name is remembered in Old King Street Court behind the shops on the left.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 13:00:46 +0000

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