Eltham and Woolwich ………… 74 years ago

Eltham High Street

The quality of the images is a bit iffy, but that has more to do with me than the originals.  

As our scanner has taken a holiday, I was forced back on taking a picture from a picture, using a camera.

Still they capture scenes which have almost passed out of living memory, because while neither Woolwich or Eltham changed that much during the 1950 and 60s, these three images date from the very early 1950s if not back into the decade before.

And that makes them quite special, but for me there is another reason and that is they come from a book I thought lost.

Hare Street

It is the Official Guide to the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich, and while there is no date, judging from the images I guess it was produced soon after the last world war.

It is a fascinating book which is now a piece of history.  Along with detailed descriptions of Woolwich, Eltham and Plumstead, there is a wealth of information on the services the borough operated, and a shedload of adverts for firms many of which will have ceased trading ages ago.

These include the Pioneer Bookshop at 3 Woolwich New Road, Court Studio in the Arcade in Eltham, and J.A. Proctor Ltd Builders and Contractors of Plumstead.

Thomas Street

So over the next few weeks I shall be returning to the Official Guide.

Leaving me just to observe that the presence of tram tracks and overhead cables might fix the time to some time before that last tram ran.

Although both rails and cables didn't vanish straight away.

Location; the Borough of Woolwich

Pictures, Eltham High Street, Hare Street and Thomas Street, circa 1950, from the Official Guide to the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich, Wells of Woolwich