Makeover!

[mochyn]

I got fed up with looking at the default phpBB header so I finally put some effort into adding a nice picture across the top of the site. I hope you like it.

[GaryCLockyer]

Hi Alan,
Good photo of the Strand and it raises the question of - what is the shop next door to what we knew as Davis the Booksellers? It looks very much like a shoe shop.
We had a debate on previous posts about this premises and some posts suggested that it was some sort of soup-kitchen at one time.
With the length of the ladies dresses it period appears to be pre 1st World War.
Any chance of putting it in a post so we can enlarge it and see if we can get anything out of the newspaper flyers outside Davis's?
BTW - thanks for getting me back in here again, when I retired I upgraded my computer and changed my email address.
So, when I tried to retrieve a new password, it would not accept my new address - hence I have re-registered.
A belated Happy New Year to all and let us see if some new posts hit the site as it has been very quiet since about Sept last year.
Gary

[mochyn]

Just a quick one (I'm cooking). There's already a slightly larger version on the forum in this topic:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=84&p=568&hilit=strand#p568

Click the image to see it at full res. Not sure it'll help much but I'll dig out the original scan which is even larger.

longer reply later.

[mochyn]

"Kaiser still missing" is on one of them.

[mochyn]

Here's the biggest one I can manage. Sadly, things aren't much clearer.

Click the image to see that larger version.

[GaryCLockyer]

Thanks for the photo Alan.
KAISER STILL MISSING refers, I think to the period just after WWI in 1918, when Kaiser Wilhem 11having been instrumental in starting the war, was forced to abdicate. He actually fled to Holland where he was protected by the Dutch Royal family. Judging by the men's clothing there is little evidence of any military uniforms. Therefore, I put the date of the picture as being late 1918.
The shop next door to the newsagent -Davis's as we know it, has a sign CASH & CO. but I have not been able to dig anything up on it. Anyone have input please?
Next there appears to be an empty shop.
Then, the shop next along has a ladder outside and has LIPTONS etched on the glass above. Following that there are 2 shops which I cannot identify before we arrive at Olivers.
That is my thruppence worth - over to others to may be more eagle-eyed than me.
Gary

[brianblaenboy]

Hi Gary, glad you are back, your knowledge of Ferndale will be better than mine. Although this was in the 60's, I remember the two shops before Olivers were Hodges and Burgess the Chemist, but that does not mean they were there when the photo was taken. I also remember the last shop on that block was the Electric Showroom (not sure if it was called something else), and then turning the corner we had the "Tudor"!
Best wishes for 2015.
Brian

[daveporthcawl]

Nice one Alan............A good view obviously taken from Llanwonno Road. The streets in the foreground are (L to R) CHURCH OAK ELM(Stella TV location) PINE FIR. I was born in Pine and David Lloyd Evans (evanvale) in Fir. The big field behind was called the COWFIELD which is now a small housing estate. The old chimney stack on the right was a pit ventilator, beyond which was the old Cambrian Wagon Works where we built dens from the planks on site. Brings back many good memories from the 30/40s.
Good luck to all readers
David Lewis

[mochyn]

Nice one Alan............A good view obviously taken from Llanwonno Road.

Do you mean the one extracted from this one Dave?

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=64&p=531#p531

Eagle-eyed forum users might have noted that there's more than one image that now appears at the top of the forum. In fact there are 10 to collect (I might add more), all extracted from the postcards I've posted in the "Images of Ferndale" forum. If you want to look at them all, refresh the page and you should see it pick a random image from the set of 10. In Internet Explorer for example, press Ctrl+F5 to force a refresh from the server.

I hope to post more old postcards before too long.

[mochyn]

I hope to post more old postcards before too long.

... speaking of which, I did add one new one recently. You might have seen the postcard I posted a few years back, showing one side of a "welcome arch" built in North Road. At the time, I promised to post another one showing the same arch from the other side. Well, after a four year gap (sorry), I did it. You can see them both in this topic:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=81