Wimborne, East Street 1904

Photo ref: 52475

I can remember when this was the main A31! Yes it is very difficult to imagine now that all the traffic from East to West came along this road as well as the traffic from West to East, that is both ways! Yes ALL the traffic as there was no by-pass in those days!! When the volume of vehicles increased, because the road was very narrow, the first shop on the right, after what was Rodways garage, was demolished. This was in the 1960's. Pauline Stevens.

Looking at this photo it is amazing to remember that double-decker buses used to travel along here. I would travel in one from my home at Ferndown while attending Wimborne Grammar School (1945-51) and it always had trouble turning right at the point seen here in the centre of the picture and often scraped the brickwork.

My parents bought the shop and house in the foreground in 1980. You could just see a 'Hobbs' sign painted on the front of the building and Mr L E Hayward had a toy and pram shop there which he had run since just after the war, I think. You can still see his shop in the model town in Wimborne. When my parents took over the toyshop they called it Quarterjack Toys and the sign my dad ...see more