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The last days of Dent Square, Colne
OUR column No. 618 depicting the late Austin Hatfield's excellent pen and ink drawing of the now long-demolished Dent Square in Colne's Market Street, caused a great deal of interest.
Many old Colners rang or wrote with fond memories of this little corner of Colne's past and with this in mind, we feature two pictures of the olde-world Dent Square.
First, on the top right is a photo taken by the well-known, affable Mayor of Colne for 1963-64, John Whalley, who captured the last days of Dent Square here in March, 1961. Note the now iconic, Ford Anglia parked outside Elsie Price's Florists, and on the left, in front of the Red Lion Hotel, is the now lost, rare perforated-crown red telephone box, which was the very last one of all locally.
This early King George the Fifth kiosk had 18 panes of glass on all its four sides and the crowns at the top of the classic designed red box were perforated to ensure cigarette smoke escaped into the open air.
Edmondson's, the high-class ladies outfitters, can just be seen on the right.
The second picture was taken by the notable historian and Colne librarian from 1948 to 1958, Wilfred Spencer, who took a whole series of views showing the Dent Square demolition.
Here we can see the knocking down of 1 Dent Square, which was, for many years, William Alderson's dining rooms, a most favoured eating place for many locals.
This is the very last known photo of the archway which had stood for decades until its final swansong in October, 1961. Today, just a small section of the ancient arch can still be seen as a reminder of its historic past.
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Weather for Pendle
Friday 25 May 2012
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