I have several books with old photos of Cheltenham and all of them have sepia coloured pictures of this building, on the corner of Clarence Street and the Lower High Street. The building is now a cobblers but for nearly a hundred years was a Tobacconists. Charles Dickens' Tobacconists (not sure if the owner was named Charles Dickens or it was named after the author, I'm guessing the first) was founded in 1889 and you can still see the glass advertising panels amongst the ornamental ironwork canopy. If you click on the photo to enlarge it you can clearly see the word 'Cigars'. The canopy was made by Charles Hanncock who ran his own ironworks in Bennington Street, down the road, just off the Lower High Street. This corner plot, surrounded by other buildings on three sides, has seen much change over the years. The building on the left hand side was the Army Recruitment Office during the First World War, and the white building on the right was used as the Town Offices from 1840 - 1915 (it is now Co-op Travel). This was home to the Town Clock which was removed after a fire on 29th December 1969. The cobblers still does a good trade but I don't know why shoe repair and key cutting always go together!
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4 comments:
Nice building. Glad they've kept the glass panels. I don't know why shoes and keys go together. They seem to have branched out into selling suitcases & door numbers now.
Very charming. Nothing quite like that building in my neck of the woods.
Love the architecture, especially the cylindrical shape and green awning/store front at the bottom.
Interesting! I wonder if it wasn't named after the author, actually -- seems like the timing would be right. The "cigars" sign is great! Wonder if they'll ever put back the clock?
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