65-67, Western Road, Brighton

Image: © Simon Carey Taken: 25 Mar 2016

Three shops that have remained individual units. Number 65 on the left spent much of the second half of the 19th century as either a jewellers or drapers. One of those WJ Wade owned another shop at Image which eventually expanded into a department store. His successor, Lea & Son also expanded and rebuilt Image and stayed here for 64 years. By the 1970s the premises had become a restaurant then a ladies wear stow before a couple of decades as an offbeat shoe shop, the place to go for those pairs of Doctor Martens which reached your thigh. Since 2010 it has been a travel against. Number 66 is the three storey block in the middle which spent the last half of the 19th century as either a fancy wool shop or an ecclesiastical embroidery. In 1904 it was taken over by Sainsbury’s who stayed until 1970 the shop having seen the change from counter to self service the previous decade. The firm had a shop in Churchill Square which closed in the 1980s bringing an end to their presence in the centre of Brighton until 2006 when they returned to Image The shop then spent sixteen years as a ladies wear store, another eight as a home furnishers, five as a specialist surf shop and the last decade as a travel agents. Number 67 on the right was a builder and stonemason for seventeen years from 1845, then after a brief period as a toy shop spent nearly a century as a shoe shop the vast majority as Freeman Hardy & Willis. Another brief period as a jeweller was followed by Dolland & Aitchison for a quarter of a century until they moved into new premises in the revamped Churchill Square in 1998. Since 2004 the shop has been a branch of Subway. Old images Number 66 late 19th century - http://regencysociety-jamesgray.com/volume19/source/jg_19_045.html Number 66 in 1962 - http://regencysociety-jamesgray.com/volume19/source/jg_19_041.html 65 1845-1846 - MILLINER & STRAW BONNET MAKER (Esther Mainstone) 1848-1850 - BRUSH MANUFACTURER (Jonathan Lower) 1852-1877 - JEWELLER (JS Lee) 1880-1894 - DRAPER (WH Hunt 1880-86, JH Smyth 1887-88, WH Hunt 1889-94) 1895-1898 - FANCY DRAPER, MILLINER & FURRIER (Henry Jones) 1899-1903 - FANCY DRAPER (WJ Wade) 1904-1968 - DRAPER (Lea & Son) 1969-1970 - LADIES OUTFITTER (Dorothy Norman) 1971-1978 - RESTAURANT (Long John Eating House 1971-76, Bunty (1977-78) 1985-1987 - LADIESWEAR (Undercover) 1988-2009 - SHOE SHOP (Panos 1988-93, X2 Zee 2004-08, Dance Shoes 2009) 2010-2016 - TRAVEL AGENTS (Travelbag) 66 1845-1850 - MUSIC WAREHOUSE & SELLER (Edward Pettet) 1852 - LIBRARIAN, STATIONER & MUSIC SELLER (Edwin Wright) 1854-1877 - BERLIN WOOL & FANCY REPOSITORY (Mrs Loveridge) 1879-1900 - ECCLESIASTICAL EMBROIDERESS (EC Kemp) 1901-1902 - FURNISHING WAREHOUSE (Chipperfield & Butler) 1904-1970 - SUPERMARKET (Sainsbury’s) 1971-1987 - LADIESWEAR (Snob 1971-83, Match 1984-87) 1988-1996 - SOFT FURNISHINGS (Maytime Linen 1988, Roseby’s 1989-96) 1999-2004 - SURF SHOP (Legends) 2006-2016 - TRAVEL AGENTS (Trailfinders) 67 1845-1862 - BUILDER & STONEMASON (William Lambert) 1873-1877 - TOY WAREHOUSE & FANCY BAZAAR (TWR Lee) 1879-1971 - SHOE SHOP (JE Stafford 1879-90, Rabbit & Sons 1891-1903, Freeman Hardy & Willis 1904-05, Rabbit & Sons 1906-10, Freeman Hardy & Willis 1911-71) 1971-1973 - JEWELLER (C Astor) 1974-1998 - OPTICIAN (Dolland & Aitchison) 2004-2016 - FAST FOOD (Subway)

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