Preston Road (1)

James Gray: Looking north towards Preston Park. jgc_18_001

2018: The view is largely unchanged more than a century later save for the trees and traffic. (Photographers: Mike and Josie Doodson)

James Gray: A different view [from jgc_18_001 above]. Additional Information: Tree lined road. jgc_18_002

2018: The road remains unchanged in many ways although the small shops on the left side of the road have been replaced by a single large store, Carters Domestic Appliances. Cars and motorbikes have replaced bicycles and horse-drawn carriages and there are fewer people in the street. (Photographers: Mike and Josie Doodson)

James Gray: A snapshot, which led to weeks of research before the shop was identified. The only words were the ‘Preston Confectionery’. 50 Preston Road. Additional Information: Possibly Durrant, tailor & draper, in doorway. jgc_18_003

2018: Still serving tea almost a century later. The entire shop front though has been replaced. What was the entrance to The Preston Confectionery Co is now the entrance to the first floor flat. The entrance to Rust is in the middle of what was the window of the confectioners. (Photographers: Mike and Josie Doodson)

James Gray: King’s Hairdressing Saloon at 70 Preston Road, which was there for many years. Additional Information: Marcel waving, chiropody, the Preston Park Toilet Saloon. jgc_18_004

2018: The hairdressing salon stayed in the King family for over fifty years (c1911-1969), passing from father, Samuel, to daughter, Ethel Maud King. At the time of the new photograph (May 2018), the property was empty, with a note on the window that it will be a ‘fine food and drink outlet’ opening soon. In the summer of 2018, the tiny property, squashed between two much larger houses, opened as ‘Bungaroosh – Preston Park Deli’. (Photographers: Mike and Josie Doodson)

James Gray: Two sides of the Viaduct. This photograph shows the view from the south, about 1895. At this period some of the buildings on the east side were still occupied as private houses and there were no trees until beyond the Viaduct. jgc_18_005

2018: See caption for jgc_18_001 above. (Photographers: Mike and Josie Doodson)

James Gray: Three photographs [jgc_18_007, 008 and 009] of the motor and cycle business of Frederick T. Turpin, who started here in 1906 and sold out in 1936. jgc_18_007

2018: A row of individual shops, including Turpin’s, on the west side of Preston Road has been replaced by the far less attractive Carters Domestic Appliances.  (Photographers: Mike and Josie Doodson)

James Gray: Three photographs [jgc_18_007, 008 and 009] of the motor and cycle business of Frederick T. Turpin, who started here in 1906 and sold out in 1936. This is the oldest photograph of the three, dating from 1911. jgc_18_008

2018: See caption for jgc_18_007 above.  (Photographers: Mike and Josie Doodson)

James Gray: These houses were built in 1874 and were originally called Roseneath Terrace, after the Duke of Argyle’s seat on the Clyde. Other roads in this vicinity, Argyle Road, Campbell Road were named after the Argyle family. Additional Information: Hovis, Shell, AJS Motor cycles. jgc_18_009

2018:  See caption for jgc_18_007 above.  (Photographers: Mike and Josie Doodson)

James Gray: View from across the rooftops, with trains on the viaduct. jgc_18_017

2019: This is a view from a very similar spot to the original photo. The area is very overgrown now. (Photographer: Jamie Newell)

James Gray: An earlier view [than jgc_18_012, 013, 015, 016 and 017, all taken in 1943]. jgc_18_014

2018: The viaduct still looms over this section of Preston Road but buses and cars have replaced  the horse-drawn carriage. The building in the right foreground has sprouted a second floor and is no longer a shop and the buildings in the distance in the earlier image have been replaced by a block of flats. Together these changes have destroyed the symmetry of the skyline that was so attractive. (Photographers: Mike and Josie Doodson)

James Gray: Alterations in progress. jgc_18_019

2019: The 1921 image shows the rear of a pair of semi-detached houses, Nos 90 and 92 Preston Road. By the 1930s, the lower parts of this property had become a service station and car sales showroom (see jgc_18_21 and 22 on Springfield Road). The whole building was replaced, first in the early 1960s by a very sleek motorcar showroom for the Ford Endeavour Motor Company, and then in 2002 by Wellend Villas, three blocks of social housing flats stretching east along Springfield Road. (Photographer: Jamie Newell)

James Gray: Photographs [jgc_18_021, 022 and 023] of Hartley and Midgley’s premises at 90/92 Preston Road, at the corner of Springfield Road. This photograph seems to have been taken soon after the conversion of the two erstwhile private dwellings into business premises, and possibly dates from 1938/39. jgc_18_021

2018: The Hartley and Midgley site is now occupied by blocks of flats called Wellend Villas. (Photographers: Mike and Josie Doodson)

James Gray: Photographs [jgc_18_021, 022 and 023] of Hartley and Midgley’s premises at 90/92 Preston Road, at the corner of Springfield Road. This photograph [jgc_18_021] seems to have been taken soon after the conversion of the two erstwhile private dwellings into business premises, and possibly dates from 1938/39. This view [jgc_18_022] is definitely of 1960, but shows only minute changes in the appearance of the buildings. Later in the 1960s a complete rebuilding took place, resulting in the disappearance of the two houses, as well as the two seen in Springfield Road (far right). jgc_18_022

James Gray: When Hartley and Midgley Ltd. were at No. 88, and their present premises, 90 & 92, were still private dwellings with some small front gardens. 88 Preston Road, built about 1880, seems always to have been used for business purposes, unlike other buildings on the same side. Before Hartley and Midgley occupied the premises soon after the 1914 –18 war, they had been occupied by Boots the Chemists. Hartley and Midgley moved into their present premises in 1936. jgc_18_023

2018: The Hartley and Midgley premises on the corner of Springfield Road is now a convenience store called EXPA. (Photographers: Mike and Josie Doodson)

James Gray: 1 and 3 Springfield Road, immediately to the rear of 90/92 Preston Road, photographed on 4 June 1961. They have since been demolished as part of Hartley & Midgley’s rebuilding scheme. jgc_18_024

2018: The houses at this end of Springfield Road have been replaced by blocks of flats called Wellend Villas. The tree in the 1961 image may no longer be there but there is still a depression in the tarmac where it once stood. (Photographers: Mike and Josie Doodson)

James Gray: Here is an interesting thing for comparison. Similar views appear on other pages. Note that in 1895 there were no trees at the kerbside [see jgc_18_005]. Some were planted at the turn of the century and by 1922/23 had grown to be very tall [see jgc_18_006 on the Preston Road (2) page]. In 1928 these had to be removed and replaced by the young trees, here shown. jgc_18_025

James Gray: Accident to the Motor Mail Van at the corner of Springfield Road. on Saturday 25 August 1909. jgc_18_026

2018: There’s no longer a street light on this corner and of course the Mail Van was removed long ago! See also caption for jgc_18_023 above. (Photographers: Mike and Josie Doodson)

James Gray: Gigins, Bakers shop, 64 Preston Road, in 1912. Built during the 1870s as a private house it had its original doorway in Ditchling Rise. Additional Information: Winner of the gold & silver cup for their bread. jgc_18_033

2018: The building, which remains much the same, is now occupied by Cannadines, supplier of bathroom fittings. (Photographers: Mike and Josie Doodson)

James Gray: A view of the Viaduct. jgc_18_044

2018: The viaduct still stands proudly above what is now a thoroughly urban landscape. (Photographer: Mark Stephenson)