Station Street the Public Hall before demolition

The Public Hall on the right before demolition

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Station Street to north with clock tower so photo taken before 1932
Station Street to north with clock tower so photo taken before 1932 when the clock tower was removed. It was modernised in 1931 and the ornate upper façade was replaced by a gable roof, hence this photo is pre 1931 because it shows the ornate façade. It ceased to be used in the 1950s and was demolished to be replaced by the National Westminster Bank in 1974. The shops either side; one was Arthur Wilson, later to be Mrs Banks coffee shop, on the right was Fletcher optician. Trees were planted in 1887 for Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. Hand cart and horse manure in road. Gent with bowler hat, children with white collar protectors. c 1910
Station Street 23 Public Hall 25 Brash Bros 27 Drummond 12 Coop 6 8 billboards horse cart sepia c 1900 p2
Station Street 23 Public Hall 25 Brash Bros 27 Drummond 12 Coop 6 8 billboards horse cart; pre 1932 when the clock tower was removed The imposing frontage of the Public Hall is on the right. Next to it is Brash Bros who were the publishers of the West Cumberland Times, printed in Cockermouth twice a week. On the right edge is Drummond Gents Outfitters. Note the packed earth and gravel surface and signs of horse exhaust before vehicles were common. Note the hand cart, a common way to move goods. There is a traffic jam where a horse and trap is parked across the road, blocking another horse and cart with disgruntled driver standing. Brash Bros is now Oxfam. c 1900
Station Street 23 Public Hall 12 Maryport Coop District Bank Westminster Bank National Provincial Bank c 1930 p2
Station Street 23 Public Hall behind the tree. 12 Maryport Coop on left. Compare this photo with the same view from c 1900 [Station Street 23 Public Hall 25 Brash Bros 27 Drummond 10 Yeoman horse cart c 1900 p2] In the earlier 1900 photo there are billboards beyond where Maryport Coop is, and the buildings are now Lindsay delicatessen and another shop. After 1932 because the clock tower on Main Street has been demolished. 100 trees were planted in 1887 for Queen Victoria’s Jubilee and were variously knocked down, removed or remain. All the trees were removed, parking bays built on the right and new trees planted in relatively recent times. Westminster Bank foreground right, now a fast food takeaway, on the left bottom of the hill, the building that is now the Cumberland Building Society was the District Bank, and on Main Street at the far end of the photo was the National Provincial Bank. All three banks merged to form the National Westminster Bank who purchased the Public Hall, demolished it, and built a new National Westminster Bank, now closed and has become another fast food outlet. Note on the right above the flat cap on the head of the man is a sign for a chemist which was LM Litt Chemist, whose son Ret, was a keen photographer of our local area. c 1930
Station Street 23 Public Hall 25 Brash Bros 27 Drummond 10 Yeoman horse cart c 1900 p2
Station Street on the right is 23 Public Hall 25 Brash Bros 27 Drummond. On the left we start with 10 Yeoman which is now the left side of the three storey building of Lindsay, the butcher. Next to it are advertising billboards blocking a space until the gable end of the three storey building that was hardware etc. This photo is circa 1900 and in about the late 1940s the prominent upper windows and triangular roof front that housed WH Smith when they moved from Cockermouth Station. Downhill was built the smaller shop front to the right which had Nora Hazelton wool, a popular leisure activity before TV. The clock tower on Main Street indicates that the photo taken between 1895 when the clock tower was erected and before 1932 when it was removed. On the right is the imposing three storey frontage of the Public Hall erected 1874 – 1876, served the town for lectures, meetings, dances and cinema shows. No intoxicants were allowed to be sold in the hall. There were shops flanking the entrance on both sides. It was modernised in 1931 and the ornate upper façade was replaced by a gable roof, hence this photo is pre 1931 because it shows the ornate façade. It ceased to be used in the 1950s and was demolished to be replaced by the National Westminster Bank in 1974. The shops either side; one was Arthur Wilson, later to be Mrs Banks coffee shop, on the right was Fletcher optician. Next to it is Brash Bros who were the publishers of the West Cumberland Times, printed in South Street Works, Cockermouth twice a week. On the right edge of the photo is Drummond Gents Outfitters. Note the packed earth and gravel surface and signs of horse exhaust (manure) before vehicles were common. Note the hand cart, a common way to move goods. There is a traffic jam where a horse and trap is parked across the road, blocking another horse and cart with disgruntled driver standing. Brash Bros is now Oxfam. c 1900
Station Street 23 Public Hall 25 Brash Bros 27 Drummond 12 Coop
Station Street 23 Public Hall 25 Brash Bros 27 Drummond 12 Coop 6 8 billboards horse cart; pre 1932 when the clock tower was removed, after 1895 when the clock was erected. with hand cart and horse drawn cart approaching Cooperative Society on left. On the right the imposing three storey frontage of the Public Hall erected 1874 – 1876, served the town for lectures, meetings, dances and cinema shows. No intoxicants were allowed to be sold in the hall. There were shops flanking the entrance on both sides. It was modernised in 1931 and the ornate upper façade was replaced by a gable roof, hence this photo is pre 1931 because it shows the ornate façade. It ceased to be used in the 1950s and was demolished to be replaced by the National Westminster Bank in 1974. Beside the imposing frontage of the Public Hall on the right, next to it is Brash Bros, the publishers of the West Cumberland Times, and on the right edge is Drummond Gents Outfitters. Note the packed earth and gravel surface and signs of horse exhaust before vehicles were common. c 1900
Station Street 23 Public Hall coffee shop entrance 8 WH Smith now Lindsay Arrow to Hairdresser c 1950 p3
Station Street 23 Public Hall is on the right edge of the photo and it shows the left part of the building that had a coffee shop. The building was demolished in 1974 for the National Westminster Bank, now a food outlet. Next is Tillotson fruit and veg and plants. Note the chemist sign protruding from the wall of the LM Litt Chemist. On the left edge note the arrow protruding from the shop front that points to the entrance to City Hairdressers on the first floor. c 1950
Station Street 23 Public Hall demolished 1974 for National Westminster Bank right is Fletchers opticians c 1960 p3
Station Street 23 Public Hall that was demolished in 1974 to build the National Westminster Bank. On the left is Mrs Banks coffee shop on right is Fletchers opticians. The West Cumberland Times was printed in the print works in South Street, the entrace to the yard of the print works was opposite Skylarks Studios shop. c 1960
Station Street 23 Public Hall Left Mrs Banks coffee shop demolished 1974 c 1950 p3
Station Street Public Hall gable end changed. Compare with the photo of Station Street pre 1932 with the third floor level fronted by a very imposing frontage that has been removed and the triangular top replaced it. The street level right of the entrance was an optician, after Arthur Wilson haberdashery, so this photo 1950s, on the left of the arched entrance to the hall is the genteel coffee shop of Mrs Banks.
Station Street 23 large frontage was Public Hall demolished for National Westminster Bank c 1950 p3
Station Street 23 large frontage was Public Hall demolished to become National Westminster Bank by the amalgamation of District Bank (demolished) National Provincial Bank, (repurposed on Main Street) and Westminster Bank (seen here) to form the NatWest Bank that was built after the demolition of the magnificent facade of the Public Hall that is shown at the left edge of this photo . NatWest Bank recently closed and the building is now fast food outlets. The National Provincial bank on Main Street is also now a fast food outlet. c 1950
Station Street 23 National Westminster Bank site of Public Hall now Costa Coffee and Dominos c 1980 p4
Station Street 23 National Westminster Bank. The building was constructed after the demolition of the Public Hall in 1974. NatWest closed approx 2010 and the building is now Costa Coffee and Dominos food. c 1980

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Sources and thanks and permissions and copyright are shown on appropriate pages and/or in the About section. If someone can prove they have sole copyright and ownership of all rights to the negative and positive prints of a photo and its digital copy, and if they then want to have their name acknowledged after providing their clear evidence of ownership of sole copyright then I will acknowledge that right. Otherwise this personal project, made at my own expense, is my voluntary, free to access website made with goodwill to the community, so that the site gives free access to our community’s historic information. For those who desire to stop some photos being seen, review your motives; some photos were given to the local history centre and have been hidden for 20 years – why? I don’t have access to them. Surely when the community give photos to a local centre for free, the photos should be available to the public to view with free access and free sharing by digital reproduction on which we can add our own descriptions on our own websites and Facebook pages and other sharing sites? Please read the acknowledgements and thanks on the About section – there are some astounding links including the National Library of Scotland’s (NLS) zoomable historic maps, and sites of rail and coal historic sites and … see About. Perhaps the links will stimulate you to do your own research for your own personal education like this site that I made for personal research and education.