Paul, Author at shorehambysea.com

September 15, 2023April 8, 2025

Victoria Road School

Junior School (built as The Victoria Upper Council School in 1915)

Victoria Road school has a curious history. Following the Education Act 1870, a school board for New Shoreham was established in 1872, taking over the National Schools and replacing them with a new school in Ham Road in 1875.

In 1913 £4500 was allocated to build a new school on Victoria Road. This was the preferred site to the alternative proposal between Rosslyn Road and Gordon Road. Clearance of many mature trees was required and demolition of on the site of the derelict and overgrown Swiss Gardens including removal of the walls to the “Dungeon” passageway between Victoria Road and Old Shoreham. By 1915 older children from Ham Road School went to the newly built Victoria Upper Council School.

September 3, 2023February 14, 2024

Mystery pinacle

Nelson writes:
Some years ago we posted what we thought may have been the top of the observatory tower (1) at Swiss Gardens. We’ve just found what may be another photo of it (2). These details from larger photos also include the catholic church so it can’t be that.

September 1, 2023March 27, 2024

Coronation street views

Lofty writes:
King George V was crowned in June 1911, and a grand street procession was organised which marched through the town. The two postcard views below show part of this.

In the first photo the procession is at the west end of Ham Road, just about to turn left into Brunswick Road. The second photo shows a different section of the procession which is heading westwards along the High Street.

August 29, 2023March 24, 2024

The Horsham Flyer

Horsham Flyer, Steyning Stinker, whatever your name was for it this’ll bring back memories. For me it was missing the earlier electric train and risk being late for school by catching the later steam train and one glorious summer’s day sunday school outing sandwiched between two exciting journeys in creaking carriages to and from Bramber Castle.

August 29, 2023March 24, 2024

Jack’s Bargain Store

The shop, formed part of Victoria Terrace, on Victoria Road It was next to Jock Hamiltons Garage, and faced the Ritz Cinema, which is now demolished, and replaced by the RopeTackle development . Jacks Bargain stores extended it’s trading space by setting several tables, out side onto the pavement. The tables, were covered with numerous boxes, of all manner of used domestic utensils, rusty meat mincers, lay alongside an old cribbage board, or some well worn eating knives and forks.

August 29, 2023March 24, 2024

Finger road signs

Saw this finger sign in an eBay photo of Ferry Road. This is the only other one I have seen in addition to the Western Road sign.

August 29, 2023February 14, 2024

Little High Street & Ropetackle

Looking through the history of Ropetackle – what an eccentric place! As well as the ropemaking and shipbuilding past there were, in Victorian times, ancient buildings still standing, quaint sounding cottages, warehouses, a gas works and, spookily, a mortuary alongside an incinerator! In Little High Street there were houses with strange, shop-like windows and this mysterious looking architectural protrusion.
Is it what was left of a partly demolished house; was it built like that to fit into a small space or did it have a special purpose? The 1872 map also refelects its irregularity as part of the longer building to which it was attached. It all adds to a certain air of mystery and antiquity to the area.

August 29, 2023February 14, 2024

Dolphin or Beacon

‘Dolphin’ was the name for tent-shaped structures fixed in the river bed and used by sailing ships in the past to get in and out of the harbour when there was little or no wind. Ropes would be taken by rowing boat from the ship, attached to the dolphin then hauled by the ship’s crew, the process, known as ‘warping,’ being repeated to the next dolphin and so on.
One of the dolphins still existed at Kingston by early 1900’s and appears in one or two paintings as well as in this photo and on the 1898 map. Neil De Ville found this 1959 record of the remains of what was thought to be an early 17th century wooden lighthouse at Kingston Beach. Perhaps it was the dolphin but if the slipway they were working on was the one on the map then the dolphin looks too far away from the slipway to have been the piles they discovered.

August 29, 2023February 14, 2024

Star Gap mystery

GPO writes in 2020:
I recently came across this first picture of Star Gap. It may be familiar to others, but it’s not one I have seen before. The concrete part of Coronation Green seems to have been recently made up and has new concrete posts supporting chain-link fencing.

As we know that this part of the High Street was widened in the thirties, it must be after this time, although I understand that there had been a wharf in this position even before the buildings were demolished. But this view is obviously later than that.

What I find interesting is that the cottage or house (houses?) is quite different from what we see today. The main difference is that the present house is built right up to the retaining wall, whereas in this photo there is a path in between.

August 29, 2023February 14, 2024

High Street 1904-1912

You don’t often see photos as good as this of this side of the High Street that include Rayleigh House (the tall building that became Barclays Bank) and the pre Co-op building, extreme right. Rayleigh House was the earlier home of shipbuilder/Swiss Gardens creator J.W.Britten Balley before he moved to Longcroft.