New Buildings

Thanks Rob - I'm going with that!

I'm so pleased it's proved useful, Helen! Yes, we also managed to identify a couple of Harry Secombe and Morecambe & Wise photos using that archive. The "Pajama Game" photo nearly caught me out though, because it was spelt differently to our more familiar "pyjama".... the Americans do struggle with our language a bit, don't they!

I think that modern white building on the end was a Bookies at one time (80s). Think I've mentioned before I used to go in to the side there to a small open 'Court' to get my hair cut as my sisters friend had a hairdressers there and she would cut it on the cheap. At that time before the Digs, the back of the old Bluecoat school was almost completely hidden away.

I remember a second hand shop just behind where the figure is (was it Exchange and Mart, or something like that??). They always seemed to have a dustbin in the doorway, full of odd golf clubs.

See the pic in post#9, Ian.

When in town as schoolkids, we often went to Exchange and Mart, most times just to look in the window. One day, my best mate and I, aged 12 or 13, saw a display card in the window full of flick knives, each with a black handle and a 6" blade. Well, we'd just got to have one of those. But there was no price on them. So into the shop we went, having circumnavigated the dustbin in the doorway, and this big bloke, presumably the owner, came up. I asked him the price of the flick knives in the window. I can remember his answer. "Flick knives?! Phworr, they ain't flick knives. Cor blimey, get caught with a flick knife and you'll get locked up for 20 years. Them's LOCK knives." I can't remember the price, but I bought one. All perfectly legal, you understand. A very useful tool, I had it for years, until it was stolen by a 7-year old tearaway boy who lived two doors away. But that's another story. Ironically, lock knives are now illegal in this country.

A-ha!! Thank you. That's just how I remember it.