QUEEN STREET.
This last stretch of Queen Street , between Lowther and High Streets, has seen extensive demolition on both sides of the road. It was an area which at one time was densely packed with houses and courts as can be seen from these 2 aerial shots from the 1930's.
In the stretch up to Duke Street there was the usual mixture of houses, shops, at least one pub. However, the place I remember with horror was the building on the corner of Sandhills Lane where the dreaded school dentist operated. It can be seen here next to the Fox & Grapes pub and just out of shot was Raglan's Court one of the many which dotted the streets in the town .In the second photo is yet another sweet shop next door to the Lakeland Handcraft Studio. All of these have gone now and been replaced by new flats and shops whilst in the centre of the block a car park has replaced the one time overcrowded and unsanitary courts.
Beyond Duke Street , as we look up towards St James' Church, and past the site of the town's first "medical centre ", practically everything has been demolished and a glimps at the aerial photo indicates the extent of that demolition. Only a few of the original buildings have been preserved.
Like the previous stretches this one also had a collection of homes, pubs, business premises and courts. Maps tell me of 2 pubs in this section ...the Commercial and the Jolly Sailor, and the same sources reveal Longmires Court and Hamilton Place .Quite unbelievably the garage like entrance in the above picture on the right, is where the Barrow Ice & Cold Storage Co. operated from at one time. On the opposite side where the men can be seen Kennedy's grocery store can just be seen.
Not many images of the courts remain but this one of Longmires Court just below the ice factory, gives an idea of just how crowded these places were.
