The Co-op in times past

Today we have a postcard which shows a part of the High Street in times past. The card was posted in 1910.

Market Lavington High Street on a card posted in 1910

If we start on the left we can see what was then and still is the butcher’s shop. The building just beyond that, with the arched underpass has been demolished and stood at the entrance to what we now call Woodland Yard. Further down the street we can see the dark looking sign for the Kings Arms pub – now converted into housing and beyond it, with the windows in the roof there is Red House. From then on we look into Church Street leading down to the building with the gable end facing the road which was another butcher’s shop back then.

The curvature of the road hides much of the right side of the street. We can see the light coloured building which is the present Co-op and beyond that was Alf Burgess’s shop which had his little photographic studio behind it.

Let’s look at some detail.

The weighbridge – just outside what is now Woodland Yard

This is the weighbridge which stood outside that arch near the butcher’s shop. It appears to have writing cast into the weighing platform but I’m afraid we can’t make that out. Maybe a weighbridge expert can tell us more.

Below we show a part of what is now the Co-op. It appears to say, above the window, something like A R Hole and Sons. We have no record of this name or anything we can read it as. Once again, we seek enlightenment.

For completeness, let’s look at the other side of the card which as the message written upside down just to make it a bit more awkward for the postman to read.

We can see that Fred sent a brief message to his Ma – Mrs Claridge – on August 17^th 1910. The card was posted in Market Lavington.

Advertisement

Tags: 1910, High Street, postcard, pub, shops, weighbridge