The Little Books 1

 In the author's book collection are a number of what might be termed "little books" about St Albans: small format slimlines containing a number of photographs.  Many are loosely themed – the Cathedral, St Peter's Street, churches, shops and so on.  Others are collected as "then and now" so that readers are able to compare scenes over a period of time.  The question to be asked is, how well represented are the eastern districts of the city?  While there exist quantities of subjects taken in the inner city streets, alleys and courts, it is certain that few photographers have ventured further than the distance between two consecutive bus stops in their search for enticing material.  So how to prove that assertion.

This week I took from the shelf Maurice Ferrara's little book St Albans Past & Present, published in 1982 (ISBN0950735221).  At the time of writing six copies are listed for sale under www.abebooks.co.uk.

The front cover has an engaging period pic of the Clock Tower, High Street and Cathedral Tower; a Clock Tower and Market Place monotone drawing also occupied the inner title page.  So that probably sets the tone.  It is not until page 32 that we break out of the 1835 town boundary and experience the first image in the remote yonder: a World War One training camp in London Road's Cunningham lower slopes. The second eastern photo shows the operational prison, but neither join in the book's design intention to show more recent versions of these two locations.

Fleetville's turn comes from page 58 onwards with a pair of images of The Crown (the first with the well-known tree and island), and a  street scene of Hatfield Road between Blandford and Glenferrie roads.  There follows the deceptive comparison between a carless Glenferrie Road and its more modern car tunnel equivalent.  Then there is the sixty years separating versions of Bycullah Terrace, Hatfield Road (including a rare inclusion of the Co-operative Store which replaced the former Ballito Hosiery Mill).

We are also rewarded with then and now pictures of the Nicholson coat factory in Sutton Road, the first including what might be the full contingent of employees at the time, and a little indirect evidence of the field opposite (now Campfield Road) which was still used as a  recreation field before the opening of Fleetville Recreation Ground now called Fleetville Park.

It is rewarding to see once more the often-seen photograph of pedestrians walking along the middle of Hatfield Road down towards the Beaumont Avenue junction – and the empty spaces beyond where houses would shortly be constructed; the modern version is surprisingly quiet at the same location, with no more than four cars visible!

There known to be east least two published images of troops making their way along Hatfield Road towards their training ground at Oaklands, or perhaps to the grounds of Hatfield House.  It is good to discover the version selected for publication is the lesser known of the two.  But its partner is not a more recent version of the same location, but a 1908 photograph of a carcass-hung frontage of Aberdeen House, the butcher shop then managed by Mr Steabben.

One more pair shows one of the most popular shots – in fact the only image of the Camp District in the book – of the Camp Hill hamlet.  Its modern equivalent reminds us just how long ago this little book was published (1982) for the Rubber Works still occupies the opposite site of the road; the Dexter development is still a few years away.

Near the end of this collection are are two pairs of pictures of Sandpit Lane which together demonstrate just how much east end growth has affected streetscapes at Hall Heath and Newgates.  Fortunately the author has found a glorious circus photograph, unfortunately not taken in any of the eastern locations where circuses so often pitched up.  But the circus is, at least, represented as a popular form of entertainment in the first half of the twentieth century.

Finally an open space pair shows scenes within Clarence Park.

Added pages include a sample front page of the Herts Advertiser & St Albans Times, and of a short-lived mid-week paper called the St Albans Clock Tower.  In 1906 there were just 135 telephone subscribers covered the whole of St Albans – just five of them in the eastern districts.  The entire directory fits on a single page of this book!

And that is it.  Nothing from Oaklands, nor Marshalswick.  No farms or detached hamlets were represented.  Either photographers were unadventurous or their work has not survived.

The Crown that Moved

 When the Cavendish estate was first built there was a pair of shops west of Albion Road, although by the time they had opened most of the nearby homes were occupied; so too were the villas of Stanhope Road, soon to be followed by the homes of Clarence Park Road.

The photos below show the two shops in their early days; both were owned by Edward Hanley whose home was in Lemsford Road.  On the corner was Aberdeen House, a butchery managed by various specialists, including Mr Steabben, followed by Harry Patience of Popefield Farm.  At the foot of Cavendish Road was a small abattoir which if the building had still extant would be within the curtilage of Ss Alban & Stephen Junior School.

The name of Harry Patience only appeared above the door of Aberdeen House for a very short time,
in the early 1920s.  It is presumed Mr Patience is one of the two gentlemen at the door.
OWNER OF PHOTO UNKNOWN

Next door was the Park Stores owned by E Hanley.  Both shops had projecting display windows
in the early period.  The picture below shows the early interior of the Park Stores.
OWNER OF PHOTO UNKNOWN

Next to Aberdeen House was Park Stores, which had the name E Hanley above the door.  But that did not mean that he put in a full shift behind the counter.  Mr Hanley owned several shops, including three in Fleetville, and installed a manager for each one, while he organised the ordering of stock.  Where a manager did not require the upstairs flat, Edward Hanley rented that out.  In the period before shops arrived on the north side of Hatfield Road, Mr Hanley's shops very much complemented those at the lower end of Stanhope Road, even though they had opened rather later.

If you have passed by this part of Hatfield Road recently you may have noticed that the former Hanley's Stores is now a shop no longer and the conversion to domestic accommodation has been achieved sympathetically.  Menspire and the refurbished house and its railings frontage has created a welcome improvement to this corner.

Above: the pair of shops in around 1910

Below: the current street presentation of these two properties COURTESY GOOGLE STRRETVIEW

The street view of the above pair of shops in 1964, the pair of Charlton Villas, and the former 
coachman's accommodation of the Crown Hotel converted into Martell's coal business.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

Next along the road is a pair of homes called Charlton Villas, erected at the same time as the adjacent shops, for Samuel Collins.  Both number 150 and 148 have always been residential, although for fifty years Arthur Evans ran his plumbing and decorating business from number 148. 

A recent view of the Crown Public House, although the two gabled sections are now paint washed
over the bricks.

The Crown Hotel c1914 with the roundabout in front and surviving tree from the site's nursery days.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

The remainder of the block as far as Camp Road is taken up by the substantial buildings of The Crown Hotel and public house.  The licensing of this house was made possible by the acquisition of the license of the Rose & Crown in Holywell Hill; today the Abbey Flats are on that site.  In fact there was an occasional slip-up in reporting which referred to the new Hatfield Road establishment as the Rose & Crown.  The business was taken on by Luton Ampthill company Morris & Company, and rather helpfully its name has been added to the 1912 revision of the Ordnance Survey map.  However, it seems that the plot had first been acquired by John Green of Bedford.

The 1872 Ordnance Survey shows the bend near St Peter's Farm and Camp Lane meeting it
from the bottom of the map and passing the tiny toll house – the small pink building – with Ninedells Nursery to its right.
COURTESY NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND

To understand the placement of the Hotel in relation to the road layout we need to refer to the 1872 Ordnance Survey.  As we walk past the hotel's former stables and groom's quarters – later converted into Martell's Coal Sales and now private accommodation – the footpath deviates to line up with Stanhope Road ahead.  Such a property boundary dates from the sale of the former Ninedells Nursery and the sale of Hatfield Road Field for the development of Stanhope Road.  Before that time, as shown on the 1872 map, Hatfield Road's notorious bend to the right had the junction with Camp Lane shortly after the turnpike chain toll point.  This is the small pink building near the letters TP on the map.  Until the nursery was sold its boundary met the Hatfield road at the bend.  It is likely that the large tree shown in front of the c1914 photograph is a boundary survivor of that nursery.  To enable vehicles travelling westwards to access Stanhope Road a slip lane was made in front of the hotel.  In effect this created a roundabout.  Although it is not clear when this was closed off it was probably with the growth of motor traffic in the 1920s.  

Along with this great photograph it is worth pondering on two further points.  Unfortunately hidden by the tree, the original hotel name was displayed above the ridge tiling and between chimney stacks.  Such a position demonstrated the prominence of the hotel's position along the main road.  Secondly, on the edge of the roundabout is a cabinet with the city crest on the front.  Place there c1908 it was an early electrical connection box from the supply cable laid from the generation works in Campfield Road.

Now the Crown Public House, we can rest with a pint in the beer garden, and join regulars on televised football evenings.  It is the last pub eastwards along this road until the Rats' Castle.