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Windsor Street, Colne, in the 1950s
OUR column transports us back in time this week to 1950 and a truly amazing view looking from Colne's Langroyd Road and along Windsor Street to Skipton Road. Taken by the doyen of local cameramen, the late Alan Spencer, this 60-year-old picture is light years away from today's hustle and bustle in Windsor Street.
Yes indeed, our tranquil mid-20th Century scene shows no traffic congestion, no litter, just two pedestrians and a shop sign which proclaims to all: "Sleep - Sweeter with Bournvita".
Today, this is no longer cornershop territory (back in 1950, No. 66 Windsor Street was the well-known grocer's shop run by James Shannon) but home to the mighty supermarket store, Sainsburys. The superstore giant has transformed this once quiet corner of Colne forever as shoppers and their vehicles flock to the latest local emporium for bargains galore.
A hundred years ago, this area was green fields, then in 1910 the site saw a cotton mill erected named as Grove Mill and run for many decades by J.W. Barritt Ltd. When King Cotton declined, Grove Mill became Coachwork Conversions, a prestigious company run by the affable owner John Muschamp and indeed, where during the 1980s my son Shaun was a coachbuilder apprentice.
Today, coincidentally, his girlfriend Kiri works in the very same place at the neoteric Sainsburys store which replaced the Edwardian Grove Mill.
Note on our 1950 picture, the famous Windsor Street wooden huts on the right. Here for many years, you would find the friendly Fred Credland, gents hairdresser; next door was the merry Miss Bertha Keene who ran a general store full of goodies and followed by the legendary, amicable Albert Ibbotson, clogger and boot and shoe repairer of great note.
Also on the site for years was the popular plumber David Parker and the cotton mill company, the Stonebridge Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Now in the 21st Century, a retailing giant brings in the crowds where once sheep and cattle grazed.
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Weather for Pendle
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
