Kathryn A Morrison

Hurrah for modern businesses adopting old fascias!

Last time I was in #Stamford this gorgeous glazed terracotta wine & spirit merchant's shop (a branch of a Peterborough firm) was still covered by modern pub signage. Created in 1907.

Calls grow to save Harold Gosney sculptures as Grimsby Car Park demolition begins As demolition work begins on a 1960s car park in Grimsby, renewed calls are being made to preserve the public artwork embedded in the structure. The Abbey Walk car park is being knocked down after North East Lincolnshire Council said structural damage had made the building unsafe. The car park was closed in May 2024 after inspections revealed serious defects, including water ingress into structural supports.

Calls grow to save Harold Gosney sculptures as Grimsby Car Park demolition begins

As demolition work begins on a 1960s car park in Grimsby, renewed calls are being made to preserve the public artwork embedded in the structure. The Abbey Walk car park is being knocked down after North East…

Marking 10 years of buildingourpast.com - 100 posts focusing on historic shops and retail history.
Today's offering: Saxone shoe shops. buildingourpast.com?p=11352&prev...

Troubled heritage body told to address 'unacceptable' governance The auditor general has issued a strongly critical report on Historic Environment Scotland following a period of

'Scotland's spending watchdog has told Historic Environment Scotland (HES) it must address "unacceptable weaknesses" in its governance in a strongly critical report.'
#HES #heritage #history
🗃️📚 #buildings
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

White House sued by historic preservation group over ballroom plans The National Trust for Historic Preservation argues the White House failed to seek necessary reviews before demolishing the historic East Wing.

It’s getting interesting!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The founder of the What Every Woman Wants department store has died aged 87.

Vera Weisfeld launched the women's fashion chain with her husband, Gerald, in Glasgow in 1971 before expanding across the UK.

📷 Newsquest

This shop frontage in Belmont, near Harrow needs a local listing. It's a precious example of 1930s style.

@c20society.bsky.social @londonmuseum.bsky.social @modinmetro.bsky.social

Bedford take note!

B&M told to remove 'garish' signs in Bedford town centre A planning inspector backs a council's call to take down the brightly coloured shop signs.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A few alterations, but recognisable!

Bet not many of these #Cambridge students realised that Gardenia's shopfront was installed for Lennards (shoe shop) by Pollards in the late 1920s. A tad altered, but recognisable - hope it isn't now swept away!

Bit of Peckham Rye art deco. Former Holdron’s department store. Now a tremendous shop in its own right

What do we do with our former department stores? Well, Age Concern Southend has one answer that seems to be working. Heard some lovely stories tonight of the impact The Haven has had (4000 visitors a month!) & the wider benefit it's had on the high street. Inspirational stuff. @archhfund.org.uk

A black and white photograph of the Electricity offices for East Ham Borough

This week we are exploring the Electricity Showroom, which appeared in the nation's high streets in the 30s, often in an art deco or modernist finish and looking to sell new fangled electrical and gas appliances. Read more in Power to the People www.modernism-in-metroland.co.uk/blog/power-t...

Lovely historic shops in Grand Hotel Buildings, #Eastbourne.

Dealbh-camara às an adhar de dh'Ospadal tùsail an Ràthaig Mhòir ann an Inbhir Nis. Cha robh anns an ospadal thùsail ach grunnan uàrdan air aon làr agus chaidh a' chiad euslainteach a thoirt a-steach air 5 An t-Sultain 1941

[neach-fiosrachaidh: Nurses League of Inverness Hospitals]

The C & A store at the corner of Sauchiehall and Cambridge Streets is brand new in this 1929 photograph. Designed by North, Robin & Wilsdon, and built in 1928, the successor firm of North Partners did the design work for the 1950s alterations.

📷 Glasgow City Archives

#Glasgow

158-160 Argyle St, at Mitchell Lane, photographed in 1926. The fashion retailer Burton had been established in London in 1903, and by the time this was taken, had around 400 stores across the UK. Today you'd find slot machines rather than shirts at this location.

📷 City Archives

#Glasgow

Chain Stores in the Golden Age of the British High Street “In a nutshell, Chain Stores in the Golden Age of the British High Street explores how multiple retailing has shaped the experience of shopping and the appearance of streets, throughout the British…

New post this morning 27/8.

Review of @kathrynmorrison.bsky.social brilliant book Chain Stores in the Golden Age of the British High Street.

stirlingretail.com/2025/08/27/c...

Former Debenhams/Bon Marché store, Gloucester: the early 1960s part of the building very like the Festival Hall's original 1951 elevations, especially the small windows to the left which echo those which originally illuminated the RFH's side fire escape stairs.

Have you seen this @kathrynmorrison.bsky.social ?

Some #UrbanPrehistory for chain stores - The Lost Stones of ASDA…

Thought it was 1st April for a moment 🤣

The corner of Kenneth Street and Church Street, #Stornoway, 1930s, with the staff of Bruce Brothers' Coal Merchants and the Ladies Hairdessing Saloon stainding outside their premises

[source: HLH Archives, D1751/2/1/18]

Some nice #geometric #mosaic #tiles in the entrance to two small shops in Rhyl. @kathrynmorrison.bsky.social

‘Cathedrals of commerce’ : A guide through the Golden Age of the British High Street | The Past In her new book about High Street heritage, Kathryn Morrison takes us on a trip down memory lane and reminds us that design quality was once a proud part of ...

A long piece about 'Chain Stores' by Christopher Catling for the new edition of Current Archaeology - if you fancy a read!
the-past.com/feature/cath...

A visit to a new place! Llanidloes, Powys, not far from Newtown. Very interesting as it seems so little changed architecturally. An amazing number of shops still trading - which was so wonderful to see!

Former Taunton Debenhams building goes up for sale The building, which shut as a store in 2021, is listed with a guide price of £1.75 million.

If anyone has £1.75m then I've just the 1930s and 1960s west country department store for you.

There's a 1938 Deco central bay on the frontage, with a subsequent major remodeling to fit with it in the 1960s.

1/3

For any old retail shop people on here, the ex Melias store in Cardigan West Wales last week of July 2025