Wednesday 2nd July 2014
Danny Howell writes ~
Last night I posted this old postcard picture (above)
on dannyhowell.net
I asked: Here’s a mystery photo you can maybe help
with. This postcard picture was taken by a
photographer called Fielder who was
based in Warminster years ago.
In the lower left corner is a cart signwritten
“Radstock Coal”. Radstock coal was regularly
delivered in Warminster and surrounding villages.
The question is, where did Mr. Fielder take the photo?
Is it in Warminster or elsewhere?
Do you recognise the houses or the street?
Of course, the scene may have changed a bit over
the years, but do you know where it was taken?
If you do, please contact
dannyhowellnet@gmail.com
I’m pleased to say I received a good response
from readers. Their emails suggested various streets
in Warminster, including Portway, Victoria Road,
Boreham Road, and so on. Thank you to all of you.
But only one person came up with the correct
location. That clever person was Andrew Davis
(yes, the Warminster Town Councillor and
Wiltshire Councillor).
Andrew wrote:
“That Picture …… Could it be Emwell Street with
the lantern being on the Weymouth Arms?”
It is indeed Emwell Street, Warminster, with the
lantern on the right of the picture being on the
north-east corner of the Weymouth Arms.
The lantern is no longer there, but a modern
lamppost stands on the pavement just a couple
of yards along, on the other side of the alley
between the pub and Emwell House.
In the old picture you can see where the shadows
on the right show no shadow from the alley.
Below is the same scene, photographed by me
this morning (Wednesday 2nd July 2014).
The cottages on the left are now named or numbered
(left to right) No.26, Flora Cottage;
No.27, Emwell Cottage; and No.28 Emwell Street.
The old porch above the door at Flora Cottage
has long since gone.
Flora Cottage was once the home of Albert Dewey,
a well-known Warminster blacksmith who
had his forge there (suceeding a previous blacksmith
called Thomas Bamsey), and there had at one time
been a weighbridge in the road outside.
It could be that the Radstock coal cart in the old
picture was there, having delivered coal to the forge,
or had maybe been weighed empty, or was there for
some kind of repair.
Telephone poles and wires
now cross the street in several places.
And television aerials now occupy the
chimney stacks. And of course, the
horsedrawn carts have gone, replaced
with many (some would say too many) cars.
Emwell Street now has sleeping-policemen
car slowing measures too.
And let’s not forget it is now a one-way street.
At the far end of the street,
where the long wall is in the old picture,
(with a horse and cart alongside)
is now a terrace of fairly modern houses.
At the end of the street is the junction with
the lower end of Sambourne Road.
In the background is the beech-clad summit
of Copheap which dominates the town.
Well done to Andrew for the correct identification.
Here are the two photos, old and new,
next to each other, so that readers can compare.
