Hostelry which never was

The Hatfield Road buildings east of Harlesden Road, with the recreation ground east of the
treeline.
COURTESY GOOGLE EARTH

The image at the top of the blog post on 14th August looking east from Sandfield Road, includes developments which took place east of Harlesden Road, but something seemed to be missing, partly because we think we are looking at the recreation ground in the distance; a point mentioned in that post.  In fact, it is future development land which we will come to shortly; the rec is out of sight in that photo.

By 1964, when this photo was taken, the corner grocery shop had become a bank.  The next shop, 
also a grocery has a house between them.  A short line of fir trees marks where a meeting house was
built.  Beyond is Fleetville's first shop parade.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

But first we will look at the orange block east of Harlesden Road.  There is a detached address which is a shop, on the corner, and a semi-detached pair but both parts now looking very different.  No doubt, when new the semi-detached pair with their little front gardens would have looked smart.  Edward Hanley owned the corner shop  – he also owned and ran a grocery on the south side of Hatfield Road near The Crown. This one at Harlesden Road was managed by James Harrison, baker and confectioner, followed by two more bakers in turn until resumption of peace after World War 1 when Teiji Orihash took over baking and added a grocery.  There are still former residents of the district who recall being taught to play the piano by Mrs Orihash at lessons given on a first floor grand piano.  There is some doubt whether or not Mr Orihash kept his shop open throughout the hostilities after 1939, although the 1942 Kelly's directory still lists the shop.  However, after the war, Mr Orihash thought it prudent to change his name to Hugh Orton in view of potential hostility towards his Japanese origin.  In the mid-fifties number 173 was transferred to Lloyds, the last of the big clearing banks to open in Fleetville.  They had a relatively short presence in Hatfield Road, until the mid-seventies, before the present traders, City Glass, took over, and created another example of additional premises built on the rear garden space.

A snowy scene in the 1930s centred on the house then being occupied by Charles Carter. The
grocery to the right was then under the management of H W Bennett.
COURTESY CAROLYN HAYWARD

The other two premises in the orange block were semi-detached homes until 1911 when the righthand house, number 177, was adapted to become a shop; H W Bennett's grocery, just two doors from the corner shop.  Walter Brooker took over from around 1948, but, as with many other small grocery traders, they suffered from the arrival of the supermarkets.  Brooker's therefore became a television aerials shop, and more recently the latest in trend purchases: vaping.

In the middle there remains one house. Although there have been several occupants, more is known about one of them during the 1930s. Thomas Carter, who had already established himself in the horticultural business, Sear & Carter, near St Paul's Church, encouraged his brother Charles, with an interest in agricultural machinery, to set up business in St Albans.  So, in the early 1930s Charles acquired the house at number 175 and a plot opposite on which he built Carter's Garage.  Later it would became Hobbs' Garage and is now Kwikfit.

Breweries are usually early to lay claim to land in development districts for future public houses.  In 1899 Benskins purchased the red and blue plots in the top picture for a public house, hostelry and carriage yard – presumably similar to The Crown, which was being constructed during the same year.  Directly opposite to Benskins' proposed establishment a competing company, Trust House, acquired a site for a hotel and accommodation for dining and drinking.  This launched a twenty-five year,  acrimonious battle between the two companies and many of the property owners in Fleetville which was only resolved when Benskins transferred its interest to the site on which the Rats' Castle was later built.  But there was no hotel.

In 1924 only the orange block buildings have
been developed. A small and larger plots acquired by
Benskins remain open during the lengthy objections
to the sale of alcohol in the district.
COURTESY NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND

The line of WW1 troops passing the shops, with the 
smaller open plot behind the leading soldiers.  We can also observe where the righthand former
house has been converted into the shop which one day will be known as Brooker's.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

Benskins land consisted of a small and large plot.  As soon as Benskins felt the opportunity of future trade on this site slipping away, the company was prepared to relinquish the smaller plot, which the Salvation Army purchased.  There are, of course, two possible reasons for this move.  Either the church group wished to construct a citadel, Sunday school or other meetings place, or it was a strategic purchase to squeeze out Benskins.  Well, the Sally Army didn't build, and when the opportunity arose the Mid Herts Bill-Posting Company rented both the small and large sites for advertising.  The small site remained as a poster site until around 1956 when the Plymouth Brethren group, which had previously occupied a small premises in Hedley Road, constructed a meeting house.  When it was no longer required for this purpose c2005 it was replaced by residential accommodation with the design containing echoes of the neighbouring frontages to the east.  Although there had been an option for a ground floor shop in the plan this did not materialise.

The Plymouth Brethren Meeting House built in the mid-fifties on the smaller plot formerly
owned by Benskins and subsequently acquired by the Salvation Army.
COURTESY ROBIN DE SMET

The same smaller plot more recently.  Long gone are the days when the land was used for
displaying large advertising posters.  Unfortunately a photo of that period has not yet been found.

Benskins finally relinquished the large plot (the blue block in the top picture) c1927, and this presented the opportunity for a shop parade of four establishments for the first time in Hatfield Road.  Set further back from the kerb the front elevations were typical of their time, with herringbone brickwork and first floor bay windows.  The original plan was apparently insufficient for the demand even at the time of opening, as the irregular space between the planned development and the boundary with the recreation ground a single floor shop unit was added.  Until the early fifties there were a variety of occupiers, but from 1956 Andrews greengrocery, was opened there.  In 2020 the same family is still trading here.

The five shops shown in 1964 with their frontages and before improvements to the roadway.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

When retail trading returned to normal after WW2 we should remember that the parade was still young.  In the period up to the mid 1970s the first shop was a confectioner (Dorothy Miles and then her son David Miles. Miss Gurney and then Mrs Wright, managed a ladies' hairdresser. In the third shop was Mr Macpherson, chemist, followed by St Albans' Scooters. A butchery run first by Hedley's and then J Johnson was in the fourth unit.  Andrews greengrocery was and is in the lock-up shop at the end.

However, today the former confectionery, has been converted into residential.  The front elevation, though modern, still respects the original design, although the herringbone brickwork was been lost.

This recent view illustrates the grey frontage of the former first shop now converted into
residential.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREETVIEW

In this series of posts we have found many examples of houses converted into shops as Hatfield Road became a true shopping street; in this post, however, we've drawn attention to a rare example of a shop being converted into a house. Next time, in a break from looking at the built Hatfield Road, we'll pause to provide an insight into the origin of the Recreation Ground, sometimes these days referred to as Fleetville Park.

Railway Street

We have only occasionally given space to any of the early Fleetville roads, particularly those which were part of the Slade Building estate – Harlesden, Sandfield, Glenferrie, Brampton and Burham roads – developed by Horace Slade, a former straw hat and box manufacturer in this city.  It is often mistakenly assumed that these roads are lined mainly with terraces of small homes.  Small many of them may be considered, but in Sandfield Road there are just two terraces, and they both consist of three dwellings.  The rest are either semi-detached homes, some with porches, or detached.

Building on the estate began at the same time, 1899, as the homes around the printing works in the centre of Fleetville.  Just two years later, the 1901 census reveals that eight out of the 22 homes on Sandfield Road's east side were occupied, and five out of the 19 on the west side.  We bear in mind that builders were, on the whole one man and an assistant (or two) and the rate of build was dependent on who and when investors were available to purchase one or pairs of plots.  There is a surprising variety of styles which may lead us to assume also a number of different landlords.

After the initial modest flush of building at the turn of the century, five years passed before any further construction, and a decade before the ground was broken at many of the Hatfield Road end plots, creating a delay before the road was fully made up and lit.  Yet another street which suffered from dust in summer and random puddles and constant mud in winter.

Of the first thirteen tenants none was born in St Albans, although two were from other parts of the county; the rest came from across the UK.  Of the 33 tenants in the completed homes in 1911, four were from St Albans, but that still left a very large majority from other parts of the country.  Considering the huge level of overcrowding and poor sanitation in the centre of St Albans at the time, these origins may appear surprising, although it may suggest the rents were still higher than was affordable for some.  This, in spite of the area being part of the rural district where the rates levied on the landlords would have been lower.  In days before private transport and public transport Sandfield Road was still some way from town and access to employment was more dependant on work being available locally.

The census for 1901 reveals that almost all of the residents were employable outwards from the railway station, including straw hat making, saddling, shop work, gardening, printing and railway work.  In fact, by 1911, a quarter of all heads of household were employed by the railway – many specifically stating their employer was the Midland Railway.  Three employees were at Nicholson's Coat factory in Sutton Road, and four were occupied in the printing industry, probably Smith's or Salvation Army.  

In fact, the senior manager at Smith's printing works, Ernest Townson, lived in a detached home, number 17.  His responsibility, and therefore salary at the print works enabled him to move later, first to Clarence Road, then Lemsford Road, followed by the Hall Place estate.  One resident was a musical instrument maker, almost certainly at the Salvation Army Musical Instrument Works, which opened just a few months after the earlier 1901 census.  There were also two teachers, probably working at Fleetville and/or Camp Elementary schools.

A plot at the north end of the road remained empty and had been reserved for a future local shop, which, at the time might well have been useful for families living in Brampton Road.  Instead, shops began to appear along almost the entire length of Hatfield Road, and residents rarely needed to walk far to reach their nearest grocer or baker.  The reserved plot at the north end remained empty until the 1960s when number 39 was added, but as a home rather than retail premises.  

I have no doubt that there are many Sandfield Road stories.  Go to the Your Turn page on the website and share some interesting details with us.

Sweet Sound

The story this week is set just off the line of Alban Way in Campfield Road.  First sold in 1895 for development, the first building along the unmade track leading into the field was for printer Orford Smith (not to be confused with T E Smith's works in Fleetville).  Shortly afterwards arrived the Sphere Works and then the Electricity Works.

The former Salvation Army buildings, Campfield Road,
now demolished.

Regrettably for Mr Smith his business did not last long and the fine Miskin-constructed buildings were sold to the Salvation Army in 1901, which moved its huge printing operation from Mile End, and was quickly followed by the renowned musical instrument business.  Mr Miskin returned to add more space in Campfield Road.

The company manufactured a wide range of high quality brass instruments, and to this day it is possible to identify Sally instruments on a maintained list.  In the 1970s the company was absorbed into Boosey & Hawkes.

Back to the story.  Last week Stewart emailed me from halfway across the world with a piece of information he thought I might appreciate.  So, our subject is Steven Mead, well-known in musical circles as a virtuoso euphonium player who is ambitious in raising the recognition of this instrument.  You can find out more about him on http://www.euphonium.net

Steven Mead (left) with restorer Rick McQueeney.
COURTESY STEVEN MEAD

As you might expect, he owns several examples of his specialist instrument and took the opportunity of acquiring one more, a euphonium in extremely poor condition shown on an online advert.  In spite of its state he completed the purchase last October.  He reported, "it played terribly."

The euphonium was Model A The Triumph, stamped as made at St Albans in 1915; clearly it had been a beautiful instrument at one time.

Restored Triumph euphonium ready for
its first concert.
COURTESY STEVEN MEAD

Steven contacted a friend at McQueen's Musical Instrument Repairs in Manchester.  The instrument was taken apart to reveal the rich and pure brass and regular reports on progress were sent back to the new owner.  As soon as the euphonium had been dipped and returned to Steven he wrote, "It plays with a wonderful sweet sound throughout the range, excellent tuning right up to the top, and the valves are now quite outstanding... The finish is probably superior to that when it was originally made."

He announced that The Triumph is featuring in concerts this year and had its first outing at a concert in Bournemouth in March.

So, 103 years on this great instrument, made in St Albans, is making music for the delight of audiences in the company of its skilful owner, Steven Mead.