Bridgwater
Bridgwater photos (81 available)
Bridgwater maps (2 available)
Map of Somerset
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Bridgwater books (15 available)
- 11 photos on Bridgwater appear in 5 Frith books - View photos of Bridgwater
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Bridgwater and Somerset
Bridgwater memories
Read and share memories of Bridgwater and Somerset inspired by Frith photos
Shopping memories.
My father was a greengrocer and his shop appears in this photograph on the left side going into the Rex Cinema arcade, a butchers shop was on the right side. During the war years and into the very early 1950s, he was the largest greengrocer in Bridgwater, having the Eastover shop and one in Taunton Road, my parents looking after one each. They also had a third shop which my sister ran for several years. That section of Eastover, including the Rex arcade, Mr Jeal the ironmonger and several other shops were demolished in the early 1960s to make way for the rather bland row of shops that now occupy the spot.
Contributed by Mr J Haines
holidays
We spent many a happy holiday in the Bridgwater area, sometimes staying on a farm just outside Bridgwater and in later years in a flat in the holiday village in nearby Burnham on Sea. Many wonderful memories of my dead parents and dogs!
Contributed by sue bowles
Broadway Lido.....My Home
Yes.....the Broadway Lidi was my home. I am Stuart Smith, my father Gordon Smith was the first manager (well, they called it superintendent then) at the Lido. We moved there when I was about 3 years old, and lived in a detached house adjacent to the Lido. I recall doing the "Inaugural Plunge" in front of Princess Alexandra......who presented me with a new pair of trunks, for performing the feat.
The Vauxhall car, which you see in the photo (below Lido sign), belonged to Wilf Pine, my father's deputy. Our house was just out of shot, to the right. We often had rugby balls landing in our garden, from Bridgwater & Albion Rugby Club, who played in the adjoining field. ...read more here
Contributed by stuart smith
Ford Dealership
It's not really a memory I have of this picture, but my 1956 Ford Popular was supplied by the Ford Dealership, A & S White of 37 St. Mary Street, seen on the right in this picture. Now apparently a Weatherspoons Pub.
Contributed by Greg Pryce
Extracts From Bridgwater & Somerset books
Fore Street heads east from the Market Place to cross the River Parrett on the iron bridge dated 1883; this replaced
an early Coalbrookdale cast-iron bridge of 1795. Since 1890, there has been much change here; on the left hand side
are nasty 1960s rebuilds, and several others have been rebuilt on the right. The curved-fronted Lloyds Wine and
Spirit Vaults remain, now a building society, as does the gabled Starkey and Knight, now The Fountain pub.
An extract from from"Somerset Photographic Memories".
We now embark on a tour of the Moors or Levels, the vast flat
lands of central Somerset, where great drains and canalised rivers
keep the marshes at bay. We start at Bridgwater, a prosperous
industrial and commercial town with a fine historic core. Its
architectural focus is the domed Market Hall and St Mary’s Church
with its tall spire emerging from a somewhat squat tower.
An extract from from"Somerset Photographic Memories".
This view shows the shipping staithes at Bridgwater, this time downstream from the Town Bridge. Inevitably, the town is much changed now, with made-up roads, much more building - and no ships.
An extract from from"Canals and Waterways".
By 1900, the citizens had erected a statue in front of the Market Hall of the great Admiral Blake, who was born in
Bridgwater in 1598. This has now been moved to the High Street, so we have a clear view of the amateur architect
John Bowen’s rather good 1834 Market Hall: it has a columned semi-circular portico with above it a drum, dome and
elegant lantern cupola.
An extract from from"Somerset Photographic Memories".
Here the River Parrett heads towards the sea. Bridgwater was an important port, with railway docks and the terminus
of the Taunton and Bridgwater Canal. Its well-known corrugated clay pantiles were widely used, shipped by barge and
railway wagon. This view looks east into Eastover to the more industrial part of Bridgwater; unfortunately, J Sander’s
grandiose 1880s corner-turreted building has gone. Its replacement is truly dire, but York House on the left survives.
An extract from from"Somerset Photographic Memories".