yesteryear

Last week’s Yesteryear picture showing the well-known Dunstable retailer Arthur Chattell demonstrating an early television set prompted requests from readers for a reminder of what his shop looked like.
High Street North, DunstableHigh Street North, Dunstable
High Street North, Dunstable

So, here it is, in the background of a photo which was taken to record a flood in High Street North, probably in the early 1960s.

The picture was snapped from the window of the old Gazette editorial office, which stood on the corner of Albion Street.

On the other side of the road, on the left, is the Old Sugar Loaf Tap, which was the name given to the Sugar Loaf hotel’s public bar adjoining its main building.

The National Provincial Bank is next and then A.L. Chattell Ltd, which was the new name for Mr Chattell’s shop, previously called Cycle and Wireless.

The banners outside are advertising television rentals and sales.

Bedfordshire Building Society’s premises are a reminder of the days when most towns had a locally run business providing mortgages.

And the Whipsiderry restaurant and the Central Café were thriving when town centre workers had time for a sit-down lunch rather than a sandwich.

Today there are different retailers in this section of the town, but the buildings are substantially the same.

> Yesteryear is compiled by John Buckledee, chairman of Dunstable and District Local History Society.

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