Timescapes

White Hart Hotel, Market Square, c1860 and 2016
The old White Hart Hotel was one of the oldest and best known in the town. At the rear of the building were kitchen and ornamental gardens with huge mature trees, a bowling green, stables and fish ponds. In 1864 the hotel was sold to the newly formed Market Company and was carefully demolished. The Corn Exchange and Town Hall replaced the old building. The lions were added to the square in 1888.
white hart hotel aylesbury market square 1850s victorian barclays bank old county hall lion timescapes
Victoria pub in Bourbon Street, 1960s and 2015
Victoria pub Bourbon Street 1960s 2015 Timescapes aylesbury buckinghamshire bucks
Market Square, 1850s and 2015
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High Street, 1855 and 2015
1855 high street 2015 aylesbury buckinghamshire bucks crown inn new road
Foresters Arms in Pebble Lane, 1960s and 2015
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Bourbon Street, 1964 and 2016
Bourbon Street has radically changed over the years. Particularly in the 1960s when the southern side of the street was cleared to make way for Friars Square Shopping Centre. There was once quite a variety of buildings along that side of the street - the old Fire Station, Public Baths, Bucks Advertiser offices, a café and a wine and spirit merchant. However, the other side of the street has remained largely unaltered.
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Borough Arms in Park Street, 1959 and 2016
The Borough Arms stood on the corner of Bierton Road and Park Street. It was fairly old, dating from the early Victorian period. In the late 1950s the old building was demolished and a new one built behind it. The top of Park Street was then widened and eventually the whole side of that street, as far as Stocklake, was cleared of cottages. The Borough Arms is now known as The Weavers.
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Bricklayers Arms, Walton Terrace, c1910 and 2016
The Bricklayers Arms is one the oldest buildings along Walton Terrace and was probably around before the road was lowered in front of it. The old photograph dates from around 1910 and shows its late Georgian brick façade complete with sash windows. The door on the right was the entrance to a passageway belonging to the neighbouring property. It was knocked through in 1927 and became part of the pub.
bricklayers arms walton terrace aylesbury timescapes pub 1910
Churchill Avenue bridge, 1952 and 2016
The Southcourt estate started life just after the First World War. The Borough Council took it upon themselves to clear some of the slum areas of the town and some of the residents of those houses were moved to Southcourt. After the Second World War another building phase took place and Churchill Avenue was extended. The new bridge, which goes over the railway line, was opened in 1952.
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Cromwell Avenue, 1956 and 2016
The pony and trap at Cromwell Avenue was one of the attractions at a fete in 1956. Construction of the avenue together with Weedon Road began in about 1939. The name of it comes from Oliver Cromwell who was in Aylesbury a number of times during the Civil War.
Apart from a small number of trees being planted on the green, little has changed in the last 60 years.
1956 Cromwell avenue pony and trap 1950s fete aylesbury timescapes
Motorcycle Club in Market Square, 1922 and 2016
In 1922 various speed trials were held in Aylesbury by the Mid Bucks Motor Cycling Club. The winners of the Douglas Cup are seen here lined up outside Midland Bank. The bank was completed in 1921. The Crown Hotel behind it was demolished in 1938. The licence was transferred to the Crown Tavern that was built in the old stable yard. The tavern was demolished to make way for Hale Leys Shopping Centre.
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Exchange Street car park, 1950 and 2016
Exchange Street has undergone a number of transformations over the years. The Recreation Ground has slowly been eaten up by development. A small car park was first built at the top of the ground in the late 1940s. Later the Civic Centre and Maxwell Pool with its multi-storey car park was built there and covered a larger area. In 2011 it was all demolished and now it is once more just a car park.
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Circus Elephants in Market Square, 1959 and 2016
These four elephants were in town as part of a circus. It was obviously quite a spectacle to see them doing tricks in Market Square.
The old photograph also shows Montague Burton’s menswear shop along with James Walker the jeweller. To its left is the George PH - a leftover of the days of the George Hotel that stood on the site of Burton’s until 1935.
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Exchange Street, 1958 and 2016
Exchange Street, created in the 1860s, was once very narrow. It contained a mixture of cottages, offices and local businesses. The old photograph dates from 1958, ten years before the street was widened to the dual carriageway we know today. The white building facing at the end was the Old House which had grounds extending as far as the railway line. That was demolished to make way for the roundabout and Friarage Road.
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Greyhound Hotel, Silver Street, c1905 and 2016
The Greyhound Hotel had a number of other pubs in its immediate vicinity. One of them, the Falcon, stood round the corner in old Friarage Road. In 1957 just before both buildings were demolished, the licences were transferred to the new Steeplechase and Greyhound pubs on the Southcourt estate. The Steeplechase has since been demolished and the Greyhound is now an Islamic cultural centre.
greyhound hotel friars square silver street great western street locke smith aylesbury sturt pub 1900s timescapes
High Street, c1965 and 2016
In 1968 this block of buildings in the High Street were demolished so that Exchange Street could be widened. The pub on the corner was the Chandos Hotel which survived until the early 1980s. A large office block called 66 The Exchange was built in its place. The land off to the left that was mostly used for car parking, was later turned into Vale Park Drive which joins High Street with Park Street and Stocklake.
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High Street Railway Station, c1950 and 2016
In 1839 Aylesbury opened the first branch railway line in the country. The original station was at the bottom of Station Street and in 1889 it moved to the High Street where the entrance to Vale Park Drive is today. The line’s route took it along Stocklake, through Broughton Crossing, Marston Gate and onto Cheddington where it joined the mainline from London. In 1953 the line closed to passengers.
high street railway station aylesbury cheddington lms london midland scotland locomotive train vale park drive bq timescapes 1950s
Lifeboat Saturday at Canal Basin, 1906 and 2016
On 23 June 1906 there was a demonstration in aid of the Lifeboat Saturday Fund. The crew from Deal in Kent paraded the lifeboat named 'Tramore' through the town before arriving at the canal basin. It was then ceremoniously launched into the water. People took trips in it as far as the bridge at High Street. Today the basin has been redeveloped and the main mooring place for boats is at a new site called Circus Field Basin.
lifeboat saturday canal basin aylesbury narrowboats water waitrose travelodge waterside theatre 1900s timescapes
Victorian Market Square, 1887 and 2016
1887 was the year of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. Market Square had an oxen roast which is the reason for the smoke in the old photograph. 1,655 people had bought tickets to attend dinner in the square under two large tents. About 300 were served each time at five long tables. Public events are still held in the square from time to time, from the Remembrance Day service to live music concerts.
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Osterfield's shop in Walton Street, 1957 and 2016
Number 64 Walton Street and its neighbouring property were the last pair of old buildings to be demolished on that side of the street to allow for road widening. George Osterfield, the butcher standing in the doorway, held out for as long as he could but the powers that be got their way. Mr Osterfield was a well known local historian who collected old photographs and other Aylesbury ephemera.
Osterfield's shop walton street aylesbury 1950s timescapes
The Rockwood in Kingsbury, c1910 and 2016
The Rockwood was originally a beerhouse occupying the middle section of the building. In 1937 Benskins took over and the neighbouring properties were bought out so the new pub could expand. All the windows were replaced with modern ones and one of the doorways was blocked up. Kingsbury itself has changed a lot too. It was once the main bus station for the town. Now the area is mainly pedestrianised.
Rockwood kingsbury aylesbury c1910 beerhouse pub timescapes
Carrington Road crash, 1958 and 2016
This crash in 1958 on the corner of Carrington Road and Lee Road in Southcourt attracted a lot of attention. It was probably a normal quiet day when all of a sudden the silence was broken by the sound of skids and a smash. It is unclear how the vehicles ended up in this state. It looks like the van was trying to turn into Lee Road and the other car was in the way somehow. Hopefully the drivers escaped serious injury.
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The Ship Inn, Walton Street, c1960 and 2016
Walton Street was once full of old buildings on both sides of the street and the Ship Inn was one of many watering holes in the area. It dated back to the early years of the canal which opened in 1814. The Ship was popular with canal folk as well as local passers by. It was demolished in 2008 and the site was vacant for a few years. In 2016 University Campus Aylesbury Vale opened nearby and the site of the pub is now a car park.
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Steam Laundry in Northern Road, 1969 and 2016
Aylesbury Steam Laundry in Northern Road opened in January 1902. At that time it would have backed onto fields as no houses were built behind it until the late 1930s.
In the 1970s the Britvic factory was built on the site of the laundry. After that was closed and eventually demolished the site a small housing development called Dawney Close was built there.
steam laundry aylesbury northern road timescapes 1969 1960s
St Mark's Church, Southcourt, 1953 and 2016
Coronation celebrations were well underway in the town when this photograph was taken. The people were from Paterson Road and were having a street party. Many other parties were going on in the town at the same time and it would have been a great atmosphere everywhere. The church has not changed much since then although it is now known as Aylesbury Vale Community Church Centre.
1953 st marks church aylesbury vale community church centre southcourt timescapes
Drinking Fountain in Vale Park, 1954 and 2016
The drinking fountain in Vale Park was donated to the town by Councillor Thomas Sherriff in 1914. It was designed by Fred Taylor and was sited originally in Kingsbury which at the time only had a water pump and one or two trees occupying the central area. It was removed in 1929 and re-erected in Vale Park in 1932. It's been a long time since anyone had a drink from it as the tap has since been removed.
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Boys Fishing on Walton Pond, 1957 and 2016
Walton Pond has been popular with children for many years. As well as fishing with nets, in the winter months it would have frozen over so ice skating would have been the fun thing to do.
Behind the boys in the old photograph is the Leonard West Home. The building has since been demolished and houses have been built on the site.
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Hop Pole, Bicester Road, 1920s and 2016
The Hop Pole in Bicester Road was built in the mid-1800s during a time when lots of houses were being built along the main roads going out of the town. Originally the pub had a plain brick appearance but when Harold Newman took over in the 1920s he gave it a facelift by rendering it with concrete and building a verandah. It must have looked eye-catching at the time. The verandah was gone by the 1940s.
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Market Square c1900 and 2015
The old photograph shows a typical market day with people standing around and waiting for the next sale to start. The person who captured the scene travelled from his farm near Bledlow and took a series of shots of the town before going back home. The George Hotel in the background closed in 1921 and was demolished in 1935 to make way for Montague Burton’s menswear shop. It is now Bon Marché.
market square 1900s aylesbury timescapes people george hotel lloyds bank bonmarché
Medical Corps by the Clock Tower, 1916 and 2015
A group of men from the Medical Corps take a break on their way through Aylesbury in April 1916. The image comes from a postcard sent by one of the men to his wife in Norfolk. He wrote at the end of the message, "It’s the clock tower we sit in front of at Aylesbury Market Square. Will write soon. Goodbye. Russ." We can only wonder if he made it through to the end of the war. These men would have seen some of the worst of it.
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