Old pictures

[Derek Sheldon]

Found this on a local history site Whitchurch Hants

[Ivor Hawkins]

Lovely photograph, Chester Street is still there, but it’s quite different now.

[Duncan Grimmond]

Out of interest I looked at a current street map. Much has changed!

[Gordon Puzey]

The Seven is in Winchester Street not Chester Street. It is about to cross the river Test by the Silk Mill. 
It is interesting the road sign appears to have been cast incorrectly. The B4300 on the London side does not connect directly to the roundabout but is a junction off the A34 slightly North of the roundabout. As in the current attached image. With the location of very old buildings I cannot see how it could have been directly off the roundabout. As a local lad Derek you may know otherwise? 
Gordon

   

[Mike Costigan]

This is from the 1948 OS map; it certainly looks like the B3400 comes off the A34 rather than directly off the main junction.


  1948 Whitchurch.JPG (Size: 156.8 KB / Downloads: 468)

[Gordon Puzey]

Well spotted Mike. 
The road sign can be no older than 15 years in 1948 as the B3400 number did not exist before 1933.  
The road was originally the main A30 London Road and renumbered on April 1st 1933 when the A30 was re-routed out of Basingstoke to Stockbridge.  
Most likely the sign dates from the road number change.  I guess drivers would get the general idea but could have caused a bit of confusion. 
Gordon

[Ivor Hawkins]

Sorry Gordon, my mistake, I meant Winchester Street, I was only about 150 miles out!

We used to drive through Whitchurch quite regularly before they re-routed the A34.

[Peter Clayton]

It would be good to get  Barry Mulroy to recreate this in his Seven.

[Ivor Hawkins]

By the way, what’s happened to the river test, is it in a tunnel now?

[andrew34ruby]

By the way, what’s happened to the river test, is it in a tunnel now?

Looking on google streetview the river bridge is still there, but will be just behind the camera on the modern photo on here.