Monday 16 July 2012

Hounslow, Middlesex, Bath Road c1930

Hounslow, Middlesex, Bath Road circa 1930. The Earl Haig pub we can see in the postcards was demolished in the 1960s and replaced by the current pub. The post office has gone too. The large white building you can see in the Google Street View was the Odeon Cinema, originally the Ambassador. It opened in 1936 and closed in 1984. The top postcard was by Charles Mitchell of Hampton, the bottom one, which is slightly earlier, was by an unknown photographer who specialised in postcards of pubs and other businesses. I have several postcards by him (or her). Click the postcards to enlarge.



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8 comments:

  1. So much wonderful detail in the 1930s postcard!
    The 1930s was definitely a far more stylish time, not just for clothes (ie being more smartly dressed). The only saving grace in the google view is the cinema, and looking across the road, the station.

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    1. Except the 'Cinema' isn't the Ambassador/Odeon. The cinema was completely demolished in the 1980s and this monstrosity was put up in an unsuccessful attempt to replicate the 'look' of the cinema's frontage. The station building opposite on the Bath Road is however, mostly as built, unlike the relocated platforms (from when the line was extended) behind it.

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  2. That newsagent/stationers covered a lot - it even had a lending library!

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  3. The first one is so stylish.
    Is that a public toilet or a ticket machine in the middle of the Google pic?

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    Replies
    1. That's a public toilet. A rare sight on British streets these days.

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    2. Its a bog nearly always broken down.

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  4. This is a neat change to have a later period card. Seems like you might date this closely from the news headlines. General elections of 1931 or 1935? And what was the riddle?

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  5. Lol your right about the toilet. They were not a good thing when they first came out. It was in the paper many years ago that a lady was sitting on the toilet and the door opend up on her and she was doing her business. Not good for the user, but a rare site indeed to see for the rest of us..

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