IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
North Street, BRIGHTON, BN1 1ZA

A small service road whose buildings are the backs of shops which front out onto North Street (left) and Cranbourne Street (right). Taken from the pedestrianised area in front of Churchill Square its name deriving from the 18th century when there was a farm on this site.

Numbers seventy nine through to eighty one occupy the eastern wing of the former Sopers store that had been built in the 1870s, see Image Before the rebuild seventy nine had been mainly been a ladies and children’s outfitters; eighty a butchers and eighty one a tobacconist. Sopers originated as a drapery business at number eighty before extending soon after into eighty one and eighty two and eventually seventy nine a decade later. It became a mini department store that operated until the 1940s when it was taken over by Leesons who had previous links with Vokins, see Image Leesons closed in 1954 and the shop was separated into individual units once more. Number seventy nine was a waterproof retailer, a newsagent, a lingerie seller and the second stop for Fun Learning who moved here from Image then onto Image and Image The shop has been empty ever since. Number eighty became an outfitter, general store, TV and video rental store and for a dozen years an optician. After that it became a succession of short term leaseholders until 2015 when the Metro Bank opened extending into this former shop from number eighty two. Eighty one was a small shop on the corner which spent nearly thirty years as a pair of shoe shops sandwiched by a couple of ladies clothes shops. The last, Mathilde K, closed in 2014 to for Metro Bank. OLD IMAGES Numbers 78-81 as part of Sopers c.1911 - http://regencysociety-jamesgray.com/volume21/source/jg_21_042.html OCCUPANTS 79 1845-1846 - AUCTIONEERS (Charles Phillips & Co) 1848-1852 - BOOT & SHOE MAKER (Henry Hibling) 1854-1876 - LADIES & CHILDREN’S OUTFITTERS (SH Foat) 1877-1954 - DRAPERS (Sopers 1877-1940, Leesons 1947-54) 1958-1974 - WATERPROOFS (Direct Raincoat Ltd) 1983-1989 - NEWSAGENT (Smokemart) 1999-2004 - LINGERIE (Knickerbox) 2007 - ACCESSORIES (Art of Fashion) 2011-2013 - TOY SHOP (Fun Learning) 80 1845-1856 - BUTCHER (John Elliott) 1862-1954 - DRAPERS (Sopers 1862-1940, Leesons 1947-54) 1958-1960 - OUTFITTER (Gordon Murray) 1976-1978 - GENERAL STORE (Connection Variety Store) 1962-1981 - TV RENTALS (Southern Rental Ltd) 1983-1987 - VIDEO RENTALS (World of Cards) 1988-2000 - OPTICIAN (Melson Wingate) 2001 - BEAUTY SALOON (Spazone Ltd) 81 1845-1854 - TEA DEALER & TOBACCONISTS (William Warmingham) 1856-1861 - WINE DEALER & TOBACCONISTS (W Wynn) 1862 - BUTCHER (WD Elliott) 1865-1954 - DRAPERS (Sopers 1865-1940, Leesons 1947-54) 1958-1970 - LADIES OUTFITTER (Lewis Separates) 1971-2009 - SHOE SHOP (Ziggy Shoes 1971-87, Faith 1988-2009) 2009-2014 - LADIES WEAR (Mathilde K) 2015 - BANK (Metro Bank)

Number seventy five to seventy six on the left dates from the 1860s and was originally two shops which appear to have been merged by jewellers Saqui & Lawrence during the First World War. Previously seventy five had spent much of the second half of the 19th century as a fancy warehouse. Seventy six had mainly been a musical instrument maker but also been a fruiterer on a number of occasions with the last business prior to merging being the national chain Freeman Hardy Willis. The jewellers would last over fifty years eventually moving into Churchill Square after which followed a succession of businesses including a period trading as Target, see Image, and as an extension of neighbouring Image as Burtons. For about a decade it was Ann Summers who then moved to Western Road, then the peripatetic Fun Learning who went on to Image, Image and Image all within the pace of four years. Since 2012 it has been a cafe. Seventy seven to seventy eight is a much smaller house which was rebuilt in the 1890s seventy seven had been a corn dealer then newspaper before merging with seventy seven A as a hosier under John Eyles. That shop became part of Sopers who were extending from Image into Image and then seventy eight and seventy seven. When the latter closed in 1954 having become Leesons during World War Two seventy seven and seventy eight were combined and for many years was a pizza restaurant and since 2002 a sandwich and coffee shop, Pret a Manger. OLD IMAGES Painting of 71-77 in 1851 - http://regencysociety-jamesgray.com/volume21/source/jg_21_001.html 75-78 in 1952 - http://regencysociety-jamesgray.com/volume21/source/jg_21_002.html OCCUPANTS 75 1833-1848 - GROCER (Edward Chatfield) 1850 - HARDWAREMAN (John Bishop) 1852-1895 - FANCY WAREHOUSE/BAZAAR (Thomas Kent 1852, John Bishop 1854, Various 1856-1895 [FANCY BAZAAR]) 1896 - TOBACCONISTS (Salmon & Gluckstein) 1897-1903 - CUTLER (Maurice Hart) 1904-1915 - FANCY DEALER (Jack Moss) 1917-1969 - JEWELLERS (Saqui & Lawrence) 1971 - OUTFITTERS (Mr Jon) 1971-1978 - FURRIERS (Suede Centre) 1985 - BOUTIQUE (Target) 1989-1994 - OUTFITTERS (Burtons) 1996- - LADIES WEAR (Dorothy Perkins) 1999-2008 - LINGERIE (Ann Summers) 2009-2011 - TOY SHOP (Fun Learning) 2012-2015 - CAFE (Fun Learning) 76 1845-1848 - GREENGROCER (Edward Snelling) 1850-1854 - FRUITERER (J Wood) 1956-1880 - MUSICAL STRING & INSTRUMENT MAKER (J Wood) 1883 - SECOND HAND BOOKSELLER (J Watts) 1884-1895 - FRUITERER (Joseph Szapira 1883, S Joel 1885, Co-Operative Fruit Store 1886, Mrs E Christmas, 1887-92, Mrs Rogers 1893, TH Golds (1894-95) 1896-1912 - BOOTMAKERS (James Harvey 1896-1905, Rabbits & Son 1906-12) 1913-1916 - SHOE SHOP (Freeman Hardy Willis) 77 1822-1852 - CORN DEALER/COAL MERCHANT (Jonathan Streeter) 1854-1894 - NEWSPAPER OFFICE (Brighton Examiner) 1895-1906 - HOSIER (John Eyles 1895, Leonard Lester 1896-1906) 77a 1864-1880 - SHIRT & COLLAR MAKER (H Bloomfield (1864-65, Peter Bond 1867-73, J Baker & co 1875-80) 1883-1891 - HOSIER (Frank Eyles 1883-87, John Eyles 1888-91) 78 1845-1864 - MILLINER (Caroline Snashall) 1865-1885 - LADIES & CHILDREN’S OUTFITTERS (ST Foat) 1886-1954 - DRAPERY (Sopers 1886-1940, Leesons 1947-54) 1960-1972 - TAILORS (Alexandre) 1973-1996 - RESTAURANT (Pizzaland) 2002-2015 - TAKEAWAY (Pret a Manger)

A distinctive landmark in the centre of Brighton erected in 1887 to celebrate Queen Victoria's golden jubilee. The tower is at the crossroads of the A2010 and B2066. The building on the right is Boots, which replaced a building originally built as a bank but spent its last days as the first Virgin Record shop in town with a certain R.Branson working behind the tills on occasions. This view is taken from North Street and looks west.

Head south down Zion Gardens and continue in the same direction down Air Street which meets Queens Square on the right side of the photograph. The square was built from the 1850s onwards and has seen a few changes since. A church stood on the east side until 1983 when it was demolished to make way for a new office development. The structure on the northern side of the square was originally a Territorial Army drill hall which was turned into an ice rink in 1970. Unfortunately, that facility has recently closed and there are plans to redevelop the site. The same view of Queens Square in 1935 can be found here http://www.citylibraries.info/pictures/big_picture.asp?Search=Place&Place=BRIGHTON%20TOWN%20CENTRE&PlaceID=12&SubPlace=Queen's%20Square&SubPlaceID=228&Record=3&Records=4&ImageID=1745&From=List&StartPos=1&Picture=Photos%2FPic02%2F01372.jpg . Air Street on the right side of the picture is a remnant of the slums from the early 19th century though all the buildings have now gone and it is a small pedestrianised shopping street. Click on the link to take you to the next page. http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/212524

One of Brighton's icons, the Clock Tower was built to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. However construction work did not begin until 1888, to the designs of John Johnson. The tower is 75 feet tall, and the golden orb above the cupola is a time ball, designed by Magnus Volk (of Brighton's electric railway fame) which rose hydraulically up the mast to fall on the hour under a land line command from Greenwich Observatory. However, and somewhat ironically, complaints about the noise of the falling sphere caused a premature end to its operation. The Clock Tower has not been to everyone's taste, Nikolaus Pevsner infamously describing it as 'worthless', and there have been proposals over the years to remove it, primarily because of the obstruction to traffic it causes. However its importance to the people of Brighton was finally recognised when the council very belatedly granted it Grade II listed building status in 1999. This is the view from the end of Western Road looking east down North Street. Please see Simon's Image and Image for views from two other aspects. Fortunately I am pleased to report that the clock was telling the correct time...

The current building dates from 1926 and was specifically built for both Burtons whose embossed name can still be seen on the outside and the widening of West Street. The firm continued trading here until mid 1990s when they moved to smaller premises within Churchill Square. The booksellers Dillons moved in during 1996 and became Waterstones when the latter took over the former in 1998 having previously traded from Image The shop has four floors and recently extended into another on West Street. The western corner of the North Street-West junction had already seen a previous rebuild back in the 1860s butcher and later grocer George Bull upgraded his premises at seventy one. After Bull another tailors, J Baker & Son occupied the premises until moving out in 1926. Number seventy two had been a grocer and carver before being taken over by George Bull. Seventy three was a number of businesses through the 1850s before becoming a box and trunk maker for thirty years, an expansion of seventy one from the late 1880s and an early branch of Halfords in 1910s. Seventy four also saw a steady flow of businesses through its doors becoming a tobacconist in 1867 which it would remain for the next thirty years until merging with neighbouring seventy three. OLD IMAGES Number 71 in 1875 - http://regencysociety-jamesgray.com/volume21/source/jg_21_003.html OCCUPANTS 71 1845-1880 - BUTCHER (George Bull) 1883-1926 - TAILORS & OUTFITTERS (J Baker & Co) 72 1845-1850 - GROCER (Hugh Snelling) 1852 - CARVER & GILDERER (HF Elliott) 73 1845-1850 - GROCER (Hugh Snelling) 1852 - PLUMBERS (Tankard & Saltmarsh) 1854-1856 - GLASS & LEAD WAREHOUSE (William Saltmarsh 1854, S Vidler 1856) 1859-1888 - BOX & TRUNK MAKER (H Shurman & Son) 1912-1919 - CYCLE SHOP - (Halford Cycle Co) 74 1850 - JEWELLER (M Meidner) 1852 - COFFEE ROOMS (John Norris) 1854 - IRONMONGER (Thomas Kent) 1859-1862 - MILLINERS (S & E Anscombe) 1864-1865 - GAS FITTER & SCALE MAKER (William Dendry) 1867-1897 - TOBACCONIST (William Dendry 1867-68, WH Moore (1869-97) 1912-1919 - CYCLE SHOP (Halford Cycle Co) REBUILT 1926 71-74 1929-1994 - MENSWEAR (Burtons) 1996-2015 - BOOKSHOP (Dillons 1996-98, Waterstones 1998-2015)