The Little Books 2

St Albans has an assortment of small format books dedicated to the presentation of photographs.  The images were taken at a range of times, usually up to the mid-1930s, although later if being compared with a historically early photograph of the same location taken from the same spot.  

In 1991 Beryl Carrington and James Corbett published a little book St Albans in Camera (ISBN 0860233855) published by Quotes, Buckingham; 80 landscape format pages.  The copy in my possession is hardbound, being an ex library copy.  At present one copy is listed for sale at www.abebooks.co.uk.

The contents lay out mainly one image per page with short descriptive narratives for each one.  All images are black and white.  A list of 19 acknowledgements suggests where the images have been sourced, although it is not specified which are the owners of any individual picture.

In contrast to St Albans' Past & Present, St Albans in Camera contains many groups among its collection: the Easter Youth Pilgrimage, the Mummers, an archaeology group at Gentle's Yard, a May Day dance, country dance festival, and many others; there is therefore a lively vibrance to many of the pages.

Not forgetting my intention in browsing this collection of little books: to discover whether the city's eastern districts are  appropriately represented within the collection's 80 pages?

The Stone family outside their general store at Primrose Cottage.  A different building, the Rats' 
Castle PH now occupies the site.

We kick off with the lovely study of Primrose Cottage, undoubtedly the first completed building in Fleetville in 1897 and immediately turned into a shop.  Because it is the only image of the house, and was taken after 1903 when Hector Stone and family lived there to run the shop, it is often assumed, incorrectly, that it was he who had the structure built and he who launched the business.  And he had no connection with the transformation of the premises into the Rats' Castle a full quarter century later. And it was a quite different building anyway. But it is great to see the Stone family welcoming us to their shop!

William Wilkins and his mule-drawn cart of greengrocery somewhere in Fleetville.
Courtesy members of Mr Wilkins' family.

On the following page is a posed photo of William Wilkins "in Fleetville".  It is difficult to place the location but could be near an end of one of one of Fleetville's parallel roads.  He may have managed or worked for a greengrocery shop in the district, or perhaps been an early mobile shop trader.  Thanks to members of Mr Wilkins' family for sharing this scene with us.

Football team representing the Rubber Works.

A team photograph seems to have a connection with Camp, as it shows a typical team picture of the Inter Rubber Works Football team.  We know that the Rubber Works at Camp Hill had its own pitch next to the works, close to Cell Barnes Lane, although the background suggests it had been an away match. The houses of Sanders Close were built on the field, which were also used for growing dahlias.

Sutton Road.  The crowd is close to the end of Castle Road; the photographer is not far from
Campfield Road.  Whether wellington boots or bathing costumes children would always enjoy
this impromptu opportunity for a little fun.

If anyone needs to demonstrate a typical Fleetville scene in pre-war days, show a photo of what was known as "Sutton Lakes", the fifty yards or so either side of the old railway bridge in Sutton Road.  It was guaranteed to attract a number of children, and they, in turn, attracted a photographer or two!

A sandbagged hole in the ground which was used for Home Guard training.  Many locations
were used, including where the houses of Hazelwood Drive south were later built. But since the
location was not annotated we can only guess.

The "secret location" of another picture, might have been near Beaumonts Farm – but it could have been almost anywhere else, and it is possible even the photographer had little idea where he was!  This was a Home Guard training site on spare ground, possibly between Woodland Drive and Beaumont School.  Any alternative suggestions?

As in the previous book, the cover shows a Clock Tower/Market Place market scene.  As to the East End, three inside images are confirmed, with two more possible locations, out of 84 laid out in the book.  It is certainly true that book compilers have a challenging task in locating historical photographs representing the wide geographical spread in  and around the city.  But yet another image of the Cathedral or the Clock Tower, St Peter's Church or the market, an appealing classroom shot at an elementary school or a city centre parade, are all too easy to include.

In next week's title perhaps parts of the city beyond the houses may come to light.  Let's hope so.