The history portal for Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, England
Roger Bateman articles, blog posts and pages
Kingston near the harbour mouth has come up with some interesting artifacts in the fairly recent past. This old cannon (little known about it though – perhaps Nobby English who is credited with the photo may know?) and this effigy of a mediaeval knight that was revealed in the 1950’s following erosion of a chalk layer/bank – an important discovery I would have thought but what happened to that?
WW2 photos are quite rare – this one courtesy of Trisha Robb, shows the junction of Church Street and High Street.
In this postcard of the riverside you can see lettering on the roof of one of the buildings. Cut it out (digitally) then distort it and you can just make out ‘The Two Stroke Engine Co’ This was where Harry Ricardo had his first ‘factory’ making the ‘Dolphin’ car powered by a two stroke engine
How long does dried tar last? History tells us it can be centuries. A few years ago they cut the cypress trees and undergrowth down on the north side of the catholic church car park and revealed spilt tar on the west end of the railway wall. Even after the railways came (1840’s) they continued to twist and tar the ropes under and through the bridge from West Street to the top of Ropewalk and still laid out their tarred sails to dry up until the 1880’s.
They used Stockholm tar, a clearish amber colour, very slow drying and kept supple on ships’ ropes and sails by continuous reapplication but, apparently, when it does eventually dry it turns black. Is this a century (and a bit) evidence of that industry where brushes were wiped of excess tar? Sadly I doubt it – probably more like an accident by a clumsy worker during the tarmacing of the church car park I guess.
West Street’s ropemaking history:- http://www.shorehambysea.com/1400-2/
Some time ago Spinalman drew our attention to a late 19th century photo of what looked like upturned boat/ship hulls, presumably used as sheds, on the west side of Victoria Road opposite the point where Rope Walk meets Victoria. Looking through the 1927 ‘Britain from Above’ aerial photos I wondered if one of them still survived at that time. I don’t think it is but Charles Edward Peak, left wing for Shoreham FC’s 1905/6 record breaking side and fruit grower owned the Southdown Nursery at the top of The Meads recreation ground (where the greenhouses are) and lived at the house shown side-on at the corner of the plot in question (then 16 Victoria Road, now number 77). It looks like a lovely little oasis in an encroaching sea of houses and may well have belonged to Peak as well. Other photos of the main entrance are also attached.
Some on the forum have already discussed this but thought it might be worth checking other people’s opinions. Are these ships all the same vessel? The masts, lines and form of the two images 1 & 2 certainly appear to match. Photo 3 is perhaps a little doubtful when looking at the ships alongside each other. Is it the lighting on the ship’s side of that makes it look different to the paintwork on the previous two photos? The upper lines/shape of the vessel also seem to be more straight and level but maybe this is an illusion as the rigging fixings to the hull in 1 and 3 do appear to be similar. What do you think?
No, not a Christmas card but a copy of a group of Shoreham panoramas over the centuries that we put together before the latest footbridge was built – all it needs now is for some kind soul to take a ‘today’ photo from the top of Pacific Court to update it.
Our local Coastguard Service was originally located in the cottages on the beach at the end of Ferry Road but by the early 1900’s were relocated to Kingston then soon after to purpose built accommodation at Southwick. Sad to say the view of them there is now obscured by later buildings incredibly permitted to be erected in front of all of them except for the Chief Officer’s house that fronts on to the main road.
This photo of the cottages as they once appeared is a composite produced jointly with Neil De Ville.
Cooks was a large concern with a factory in Dolphin Road that once backed on to fields in Kingston, now completely built over, where much of the fruit for its jams was grown. Apart from hand drawn advertisements the only photo I’ve seen of their products is this detail from a larger image showing jars of their raspberry and strawberry jams.
These photos give some idea of the extent of the fruit nurseries above the factory and those on the right confirm what you say Lihpsir. Top right shows what are probably fruit bushes being grown between the Old Shoreham Road and Connaught Avenue. With Buckingham Park in the distance the photo below right shows similar vegetation all the way up to Southlands and the Upper Shoreham Road.
Continue reading “Cooks Jam Factory”
An unusual shot of the Swiss Cottage bar in the 1930’s when Fred Pigott was landlord there and how it looks today. This reminds me that some years ago we were given a small collection of photos of the Clarke family (not on display) who were the previous landlords and this is one of theirs in the pub’s back garden that was, of course, once part of the popular Swiss Gardens of Victorian times.
Continue reading “Swiss Cottage pub”