Western Road (5)

James Gray: Following the dramatic collapse of the Mint Casino building in October 1973, this site remained empty and adjoining building shored up for many years. Various schemes were put forward and rejected, before in 1983 demolition of neighbouring buildings (but not St Patrick’s Church) was undertaken. This involved the removal of what had been two elegant houses in Cambridge Road, but later shops. These were often wrongly described as Regency Houses, but they were built between 1850 and 1855, and they are seen at their best in the 1870s views on other pages. Date of the photographs 31 May 1982. In due time offices and possibly shops will be constructed on the site. jgc_11_035

James Gray: Following the dramatic collapse of the Mint Casino building in October 1973, this site remained empty and the adjoining building shored up for many years. Various schemes were put forward and rejected before in 1983 demolition of neighbouring buildings (but not St Patrick’s Church) was undertaken. This involved the removal of what had been two elegant houses in Cambridge Road, but later became shops. These were often wrongly described as Regency houses, but they were built between 1850 and 1855, and they are seen at their best in the 1870s views on other pages. Date of the photographs [jgc_11_035 and 036] 31 May 1982. In due time offices and possibly shops will be constructed on the site. A different view. jgc_11_036

James Gray: The view eastwards in 1923. The buildings on the left, erected in 1859 as private houses, were originally called Lansdowne Terrace West. To the right is the block now occupied by Hill’s grocery store. At the time of this photograph they occupied two shops which were separated by three others in different occupations, and it was not until 1933 that they acquired the entire block and built the present premises. Additional Information: Shopfront at LHS still exists in 2007. jgc_11_037

James Gray: This provides an excellent view of the original shop front. Originally intended for an hotel, Palmeira House was opened as Palmeira Stores in May 1873. In 1927, the whole of the frontages in Western Road and Holland Road were removed and the present day windows substituted. Additional Information: Now Tesco. China tea 3s 4d, Ceylon tea 2s 8d, tennis balls 11s 6d. jgc_11_038

2018: Palmeira House was built in 1862-3 as the Palmeira Hotel but by 1866 remained unoccupied. In the 1870s Brighton and Hove Cooperative Supply Association took over and refurbished the premises and Palmeira Stores, as indicated by James Gray, opened in May 1873. High above street level at the eastern end of the building the date 1873 can still be discerned. Those wishing to shop at the store had to be a member of the association and pay an annual fee. Edward VII is reputed to have visited whilst on a visit to Hove. Palmeira Stores remained in existence until the spring of 1962.

James Gray: Shops on either side of Farm Road. Belgravia Dairy shop at 101, showing a fine array of milk carts and floats in 1910. jgc_11_040

2018: The site of the former Belgravia Dairy Co Ltd is now Mo’s Barber Shop. The first floor windows remain but the trees and attractive street light in Farm Road have gone, replaced by unsightly rubbish bins. For the shop on the opposite (eastern) corner of Farm Road, referred to by James Gray, see jgc_11_041 below. (Photographer: Annie Drynan)

James Gray: This photograph shows the Irish Linen Company’s shop at 102, in 1907, showing a glimpse of the Lansdowne Arms. jgc_11_041

2018: A restaurant now occupies the eastern junction of Farm Road and Western Road. Coopers Cask public house has replaced the Lansdowne Arms in Farm Road. (Photographer: Annie Dryan)

James Gray: It may not generally be known that the buildings between Lansdowne Place and Farm Road were built as private houses approached by flights of steps, and with small forecourts. Within just a few years they became shops and the forecourts were added to the pavements. Here are two examples. This view is No 95 in 1897, showing the steps leading up to the adjoining private houses. Additional Information: Elswick Cycle Agency. jgc_11_042

James Gray: This is No 96, in 1908, now converted to a shop, with the private door dropped to street level. Additional Information: Dixeys Ltd., Manufacturing Opticians. jgc_11_043

2018: It is hard to see any remnant of Dixey’s Ltd in the current Western Road Launderette other, perhaps, than in the placement of the two doorways. One wonders if the fine shop sign is still lurking behind the current one. Shame about the dustbins! (Photographer: Annie Drynan)

James Gray: This is a copy of an old daguerreotype of 1871. It shows the china and glass shop of Mr John Stent at 24 Western Road, Hove. This business, established here in the 1850s, continued until 1884 when it was sold to Mr Samuel Diplock who later transferred to a shop a few doors away, now occupied by his successors, Lawleys. jgc_11_053

James Gray: Western Road – looking east. The group of boys were standing at the corner of Farm Road, with the long garden of the corner house in Brunswick Place where the present shops now stand. On the south side, note that both the large corner houses (now shops) had pillared porticoes at their entrance. jgc_11_058

2018: Architecturally remarkably unchanged although the feel is entirely different. (Photographer: Helen Glass)

James Gray: The Embassy Cinema, photographed on 5 April 1981, just before it ceased showing films and went over entirely to Bingo. Opened in 1901 as the Hove Cinema Theatre, it became known as the Tivoli Cinema in 1920 and was renamed Embassy in more recent days. Hove’s other four cinemas – in order of their opening – Empire Picture Theatre, Haddington Street – Electric Empire Picture Palace, George Street – Lido Cinema, Denmark Villas – and Granada Cinema, Portland Road – had all gone before the Embassy finally closed. Additional Information: Little Western Street, The Jazz Singer, Neil Diamond, Laurence Olivier. jgc_11_114

James Gray: These two photographs [jgc_19_005 and 006] taken in 1896 show Western Road at the boundary between Brighton and Hove. In those days, No. 115 was occupied as the Police Fire Station for the western district of Brighton. In the event of a fire the escape apparatus was limbered up behind the nearest horse cab, while the hose reels were dragged by hand to the fire!! On the Hove side, several private houses are in course of being converted to shops, but the corner house in York Road (now Langham Hotel) is, as yet, unaltered. Note the standpipe for filling the water carts. The actual boundary line is shown by the dotted lines. jgc_19_005

James Gray: [See caption for jgc_19_005 above.]  jgc_19_006

2020: The buildings can still be recognised, despite some alterations. The aptly named Boundary Passage still marks the border between Brighton and Hove, as demonstrated by the nearby street signs. Although not visible from this angle, one wall of the corner house retains a sign for the Langham Hotel. (Photographer: Jayne Paulin) 

James Gray: It is hard to realise that this is Western Road, so much has changed since July 1899, when these photographs were taken. On the left next to the photographer’s shop were the last two purely private houses in Western Road, numbers 128 and 129. Beyond was the very narrow Montpelier Road and then, the large mansion West Hill Lodge sheltered from the south by the large trees of its garden. Additional Information: Barnham and Bailey’s Circus procession of elephants. jgc_19_007

2019: Gone are the elephants and the crowds, the trees and the elegant street light. The front gardens of 128 and 129 seen in the 1899 image were lost in the subsequent widening of Western Road. 129 Western Road on the corner of Montpelier Road remains much the same above street level and is now home to The Mad Hatter, an informal restaurant, café, bar. West Hill Lodge was replaced in the 1910s by a building which housed the Ministry of Labour and remained the Labour Exchange for more than forty years. The building has since 1966 housed the supermarket Waitrose, part of the John Lewis Partnership.

James Gray: The view westwards has not changed so much. On the right are shops between Temple Street and Borough Street, with Norfolk Road in the distance. It looks as if the roadway was then in the course of being widened. Additional Information: Barnham and Bailey’s Circus procession of elephants. jgc_19_008

2019: The view remains much the same, especially above street level, more than a century later. Looking west from Temple Street are now three estate agents in a row – Leaders Lettings at 119-120, Fox and Sons at 117-118 and Homelets letting agency on the corner of Borough Street. In the distance on the corner of Norfolk Road at 116a is Bankers fish and chip restaurant, so called because the building once housed a bank. See also jgc_19_007, 009, 011 and 018. (Photographer: Denise Taylor)

James Gray: These two photographs [jgc_19_009 and 010] show the long line of trees which formerly stood in the gardens of Codrington Place, so named after Rear Admiral Sir Edward Codrington, who lived at Hampton Lodge at the corner of Hampton Place and Western Road. It was here in 1906 that the new building line was established, the road was widened and shops built over the gardens. This view eastwards is from Bedford Place, July 1899. jgc_19_009

2019: Still clearly visible are the bow fronts of the original houses, the ground floors now clad with modern shop fronts. See also jgc_19_007 above. (Photographer: Denise Taylor)

James Gray: Circus procession headed east along Western Road, in July 1899, showing the north side of the road between Temple Street and Norfolk Road. Additional Information: Barnham and Bailey’s Circus procession of elephants. jgc_19_011

2019: See jgc_19_008 above. (Photographer: Denise Taylor)

James Gray: View from the top of Bedford Place, in July 1899, as the crowd awaited the approach of Barnum and Bailey’s Circus. The photograph emphasises the narrow road of this period and shows very clearly the large trees in the gardens of Codrington Place. jgc_19_018

2019: See jgc_19_009 above. (Photographer: Denise Taylor)

James Gray: Removal of the last front garden from Western Road. This was the garden of 35 Montpelier Road, which extended into Western Road, with a trim lawn surrounded by iron railings in front of the ground floor window. All the adjoining houses in Western Road, between Temple Street and this corner, were at one time private houses with gardens which extended to the line of this wall. At the time of this photograph, the house was being converted into a shop for Mence Smiths. The walls and railings were removed, the corner rounded off and the pavement set back several feet. The tiled forecourt in front of the adjacent shop was removed at the same time. Additional Information: Now a cafe. jgc_19_022

2019: Still visible is the bare brickwork at first floor level in Western Road of 35 Montpelier Road which is currently occupied by The Mad Hatter café. See also jgc_19_007 above. (Photographer: Denise Taylor)

James Gray: 105 Western Road, at the corner of Bedford Place, photographed in July 1899. The firm of W J Smith and Co., Wine Merchants, occupied this shop for nearly 80 years, from the 1850s until 1930. jgc_19_038

2018: The building remains largely intact if rather run down over a century later. It now houses a Mexican restaurant. (Photographer: Nick Eastham)

James Gray: A much later photograph, in 1934, looking in the opposite direction from Bedford Place. By this time the old firm of Smiths had left 105, and the shop had been refitted but Anne Reed, who followed, did not last long as the business was closed after 2 or 3 years. jgc_19_039

2018: The only real difference between the photograph taken in 1934 and the photograph taken in 2018 is the building on the north-east corner of Western Road and Montpelier Road. (Photographer: Nick Eastham)

James Gray: Unlike neighbouring Western Road, Brighton, this has changed little over the years. Apart from the shop fronts the facades are probably as they were when built in the 1850s and 1860s. About fifty years separate these photographs from almost the same spot. Jenner & Parker (Estate Agents) were at 1 Western Road, from 1896 until 1910.  Additional Information: Haircutting, horse-drawn carriages, decorative lamps. jgc_11_025  

2018: The building on the corner of Little Western Street and Western Road is now a take-away pizza shop. In the 1950s (see image 11_026) this was a small cinema, the Embassy. The roof line has changed little since this image was taken in 1905. (Photographer: Annie Drynan)

James Gray: Taken during the early 1950s . Additional Information: “No Waiting” odd dates. jgc_11_026

2018: The building on the corner of Little Western Street and Western Road is now a take-away pizza shop. In 1905 (see image 11_025) it was an estate agents but from 1911 to 1981, it was a cinema – first the Hove Cinematograph Theatre (1911-1922), then the Tivoli Cinema (1922-1948) and finally (as seen in James Gray’s photo) the Embassy Cinema (1948-1981). The roof line has changed little since this image was taken in the 1950s. (Photographer: Annie Drynan) 

James Gray: This building, originally known as 60 Brunswick Road, Hove was built about 1855, as a private house with a back garden. Later, an extension was built out over the garden area, fronting Western Road, with a shop on the ground floor. The original building remained a private house until 1903. jgc_11_027

2018: 60 Brunswick Road, on the corner of Western Road has been replaced by an office block, with a Co-operative store beneath. The demolition of Nos 59 and 60 in the mid 1970s can be seen on the Brunswick Road page. See also jgc_11_032 below. (Photographer: Annie Drynan)

James Gray: Banfields, the ironmongers, first occupied the premises in 1904, the basement and the ground floor being gutted to provide the shop premises. The firm remained here until 1954 when the lease expired and the premises were acquired by the Sussex Mutual Building Society for use as offices. Photographed on 30 January 1955, the day before the work of reconstruction was commenced. jgc_11_028

James Gray: Old houses and shops, at the corner of Western Road and York Road, photographed on 4 July 1971, prior to their removal for an extension to the Sussex Mutual Building Society’s premises, seen at the extreme left. These were the oldest buildings in Western Road, Hove. Hitherto known as the Western Road field, the house seen in York Road was commenced on 4 August 1850, and the others soon followed. Additional Information: Edmond’s Antiques, posters.  jgc_11_029

James Gray: A shop at the corner of Western Road and Waterloo Street, at the turn of the century, showing a typical fully-stocked window display of that period. Additional Information: Aleck George & Son, established in East Ham in 1898, George’s Corner. jgc_11_030

2018: This building at 13 Western Road is currently a barber’s shop. It still has many original features. The windows at first floor level and the cast iron railings at the top of Waterloo Street match the original image. (Photographer: Annie Drynan)

James Gray: By 1971 business had so increased that rebuilding and extensions became necessary. This was done by first acquiring the adjoining shops which were demolished and replaced by modern offices, seen here at the right of the picture. Next, the original premises were removed and the new offices extended over the entire block. The photograph is undated but would be in the mid-1970s. jgc_11_032

2018: The 1970s image shows the early stages of the construction of the office block now occupying the Western Road frontage between York Road and Brunswick Road. It was being extended into this plot on the corner of Brunswick Road and Western Road. Note the continuation of the roof level of the modern building on the right. (Photographer: Annie Drynan)