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2018: The houses at this end of Springfield Road have been replaced by blocks of flats called Wellend Villas.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: 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). 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: 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. (Photographers: Mike and Josie Doodson)
James Gray: In the late 1870s these two large houses [Nos 90 and 92] were built fronting Preston Road from which they lay well back. In addition to small front gardens they extended at the rear for a good distance up Springfield Road, domestic quarters looking out on long back gardens.