Taunton

Van Heusen Shirts A.R.P. 1940. I used to buy factory second shirts at the factory. I think I paid three pounds each for them and you could never see the fault. 

The clock says ten past six so presumably an early start by bicycle out into the country. At this time Taunton’s main post office was in Church Square.

This is a postcard by the Stengel Company of London but printed and artificially coloured in Saxony. Like so many good images this one originates in the “ Golden Age

This photograph shows Station Road in 1903. It was one of a set published by Wrench Ltd who published many well animated postcards between 1900 and 1906.

In 1908 Bathpool was outside the Municipal Borough of Taunton which lead to some interesting occurrences as we shall see.

The booklet was produced to mark the centenary of Taunton and Somerset Hospital 1812 – 1912. It contains numerous photographs.

This scene is from a postcard by Henry Montague Cooper. Not a rare card as it appears sometimes rather over priced on Ebay. The card was used by guests at

Unlike Chard which calls itself “ The Home of Powered Flight “ pioneering aviation has passed Taunton by.

The postcard featured came from Ebay recently as an unlocated view. It was taken outside the post office at Hatch and features a tradesman holding scales.

It is said that more photos are taken now in one day than in the entire history of photography 1800 – 1900.

The photograph shows Gregory and Wrenn’s chemists at 15 East Street. They had another shop in Taunton in Bridge St. where the stamp shop is now.

“The Staplegrove Inn” is looking very forlorn now. It struggled on with poor parking amenities and few customers for a long while. I went there a while ago.

The original town bridge was rebuilt in 1834 and during that time a stone bottle was found bearing this note.

The name Firepool dates back at least to the 1880’s and probably just reflects the turbulent nature of the weir there.

I have lived in Galmington for some 40 years though now we think of the area as Comeytrowe. This image shows “The Galmington Inn” before its conversion.

There are many images of The County Hotel from its days as The London Hotel around 1900. I have chosen this image as it shows the hotel in the mid 1920’s.

Clearly a nice day here on a Wednesday or Saturday when the Parade market was held. The ladies have their parasols.

This, to me, is the most remarkable image I have ever found. I was rifling through a stock at a London postcard fair when it came up. I will tell you why.

The history of electricity in Taunton is a long and complicated story so we shall just look at the era around 1900.