DEMOLISHING WHITEHAVEN.
A long time ago when a mere youngster in Whitehaven ,ruins about town played an important role in our young lives for they provided exciting and daring adventure grounds. The remnants of Wellington Pit on south shore and those of the old tannery on Scotch Street attracted us like bees to honey as ideal places to explore and have fun. The tragedy of the former and the effects of the latter on the local economy were things that mattered little to la'al lads then. Today, a little wiser and a lot older , the demolition of parts of our town have concerned me . Change cannot be stopped of course. It is important and often essential but I am not sure that demolition to accommodate it is always the correct policy to adopt. In my more mature years I have seen houses , cinemas, hospitals , schools , warehouses , shops and churches disappear . Can these all have been essential? Could some of them not have been adopted to changing social scene? We have done a marvellous job with both the Castle and Barracks Mill. However, enough soap boxing!!!!! Did you spot where the demolition on the index page was taking place? If so can you remember what stood in this area before?
The street is of course Queen Street just before it reaches James Street. This lower section was originally called Tickell Lane taking it's name from one Thomas Tickell who was Sir John Lowther's estate manager but later adopted the title Queen Street after " Catherine of Braganza ,the ill used wife of the debauched King Charles." thus revealing the royalist tendencies of the Lowthers .Prior to demolition in the 80,s it looked like this. On the left was one of the earliest D.I.Y shops in town ....Eddie Lax...then 2 private houses can be seen followed by a very large building. The former have either gone or been converted into shops while the latter has been completely demolished. It can be seen better in the second picture and was Harry .S. Taylor's huge wholesale outlet for almost anything as the invoice for Nescafe implies.
Compare today's prices with those of the 1970's before you move on!!!!!!!
Eddies's building now houses a hairdressers while the warehouse disappeared in the 1980's on safety grounds and it was not long before the old buildings opposite followed suite.Fortunately, Cross Street never suffered the same fate and what looks like a candidate for demolition on the corner was preserved, renovated and is now a popular
B & B.
Moving onwards ,Coates Lane runs off to the left and at one time formed a part of a triangular like area with houses all round. Demolition took away all of these except those on the Roper Street side and 3 small houses opposite the "News " building. Fortunately , these managed to survive and are still there having been given a face lift.
Turning the corner ,opposite the News offices another 2 buildings looking the worse for wear did manage to survive . The next block was not quite so lucky .Whilst the ones on the right look just as dilapidated as the others it was they that , with large amounts of money invested and many alterations, survived and are still with us. The corner shop was yet another D.I.Y when this image was preserved and the former R.S.P.C. building is in shot. However, I wonder can you remember some of those in between. Not surprisingly one was a pub and the other was a favourite sweet shop of mine as a youngster. Any ideas????
The sweet shop was run by Mrs Scurr and the pub , called the Grapes was run by the Parks family when wel ived in Roper Street. Beyond these stood the R.S.P.C.A building, the workshop of Mr Dacre Holloway (plumber) and the wines and spirits outlet of Henry Spencer. Every one of these, and more , disappeared as did the length and breadth of the block between Queen and Church Street. Eventually the Co op supermarket was built on the site.
Just look at those prices in the early 1900's!!!! 6 gallons of fine Irish Whisky for £3.15.0..a plumber giving you over 8 hours for 9/4d....WOW!!!!.Buildings may well have come down but the prices certainly did not follow!!
AS WE APPROACH THE JUNCTION WITH LOWTHER STREET THERE'S A FINE EXAMPLE OF PRESERVATION RATHER THAN DEMOLITION. CAN YOU REMEMBER?
HERE THEY ARE!!
When these images were taken almost 5 years ago the 2 smaller houses were derelict and the third , larger building was still occupied.Inside the former it was a scene of utter decay with walls and floors crumbling and the inevitable evidence of pigeons all over the place.It seemed that demolition was the obvious solution!!
NOT SO!!!
Eventually the properties were bought ,renovated and now are inhabited again.
Unfortunately, the shop next door did not survive.Once vacated ,it fell into disrepair and was demolished.
The replacement building is currently being built.
