Memories of Taunton - With Nick Chipchase The Staplegrove Inn, Taunton I thought I would talk about public houses again as we are seeing so many closures locally. On average eighteen pubs a week closed in 2017 with breweries blaming higher beer duty , business rates and VAT. Really its not that simple as there has been a huge change in social conditions from the heyday of the public house in the early 1900,s. The public house then served as a respite from poor conditions in the home where there was overcrowding poor heating and light. Add to that the concern about drink and drive so village pubs are bearing the brunt of many closures. Without a good restaurant business times can be very hard.
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Memories of Taunton - With Nick Chipchase Gregory and Wrenn, Chemists. 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. Inside some of the original chemist’s fittings remain, They also had branches at Wellington and Langport. This image dates to around 1910 two years before the death of Mr W. A. Wrenn. He was twice mayor of Taunton and formed the partnership with Mr G.H.Gregory in 1885.Taunton had eight chemist shops in 1902 including Boots old shop in North St. Richard Woollat was another Victorian chemists at 18 Fore Street, in later years Adcocks. Now a travel agent the name Woollatt can still be seen on the floor in the doorway.The window display at East St. features Odol a tooth preparation.
Memories of Taunton - With Nick Chipchase E. Cox, Photographer, Taunton. It is said that more photos are taken now in one day than in the entire history of photography 1800 - 1900. Well these were certainly the formative years and it is amazing how the technology has ( and will ) change over the years. Camera technology is now driven partly by the improvements in mobile phones leading us ever forward in intuitive camera performance. Its easy to forget that few people had cameras in 1900 .
Memories of Taunton - With Nick Chipchase Hatch Beauchamp c 1905. I went to see “Warhorse” on stage last year and being a sensitive fellow it made me sniff a bit. What a fantastic production. I don’t think that I could watch the film though. Poor 'Joey'. Well that got me thinking about an image for this edition. Something with a horse in. 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. Possibly a butcher by the look of his apron.
Britain had a million working horses in 1900 but by 1914 this number had dropped to around 25,000. Most were used for transport or in agriculture. The steady progression away from horse transport can be seen in Francis Frith’s postcards. By 1925 we see none on the streets of Taunton. Memories of Taunton - With Nick Chipchase Aviation in and around Taunton, Chard, Somerset.jpg Unlike Chard which calls itself “ The Home of Powered Flight “ pioneering aviation has passed Taunton by. Nevertheless a few episodes of early aviation have touched the town in decades gone by.
The image shows James Beach’s Pioneer Aeroplane Works which was situated in his motor car garage in St. James Steet.The Aeroplane Works were only listed in a directory dating to 1911 so the venture soon ceased.The aeroplane is powered by a version of the Gnome rotary engine introduced in 1908 which revolutionized the development of powered flight.The initial problem being lack of power to weight ratio. The image came from a collection of Beach family photos I was allowed to copy after the death of Eddie Beach and his wife. Jame’s son Eddie Beach was a well known local figure madly keen on motorbikes and on occasion likely to cycle around Taunton on a penny farthing bicycle.In later years the Beach company had a garage in Greenway Road which was taken over by Edwards and Sons in 1927. Memories of Taunton - With Nick ChipchaseLondon Hotel, Taunton. Car Rally. 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 the hotel over quite a long period of time as the photo was taken on 21st July 1904. In 1914 W.F. Whittingham acquired the hotel and the address box was altered to include his name instead of E.H. Claridge.The image shows the newly formed Somerset Automobile Club with French automobilists sponsored by The De Dion Bouton Motor Co.
Most early cars in the UK were engined by French or German companies as Britain was a little slow in accepting the new fangled motor car. De Dion engined cars were being sold in Bridgwater by The Bridgwater Motor Company in 1901 and small car suppliers were springing up in Taunton around the same time. Incidentally 1904 was the year that motor registration was introduced. The first Somerset number being Y1. Memories of Taunton - with Nick Chipchase Taunton And Somerset Hospital I apologise in advance if the image is impaired as it comes from a souvenir booklet printed by Barnicott and Pearce in 1913. In some 40 years of collecting Taunton items it is the only one I have seen so it must be very rare.
The booklet was produced to mark the centenary of Taunton and Somerset Hospital 1812 - 1912. It contains numerous photographs but I have chosen this one as it clearly reflects differences in attitudes and behavior between 1912 and today. This is the nurse’s sitting room at East Reach where the immaculate staff are engaged in ladylike activities like chess, the piano and needlework . Having worked at the Musgrove Park Hospital social club for a while ( it no longer exists ) I am well aware how the medical staff of today would rather spend their free time. A tennis court was also built at East Reach across the road from the hospital for staff to engage in healthy outdoor pursuits. Memories of Taunton - With Nick Chipchase Bathpool, Taunton c 1908 I thought we could look at Bathpool as it has changed so much in the last 100 years. I have used this super dated image ( 1908 ) of the Bathpool Inn to illustrate the account. Most villages had their own pubs 100 years ago. Many were simply named after their locality. Sadly 'rebranding' has meant that the old local names have been dropped in many cases to something entirely inappropriate. This pub is now “ The New Mill “ which is far better than our own local pub which became 'The Pickled Newt' for a while. It has since returned to 'The Shepherd’s Rest' though I doubt many shepherd’s have actually rested in this area. It was originally named 'The Galmington Inn' which I thought the best. In 1903 The Bathpool Inn was run by Mr E. Rockett whose name may be linked to Rockett’s Cottages at nearby Creech St Michael.
Memories of Taunton - With Nick Chipchase Station Road Taunton c1903 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. We can be precise about the date because a placard is advertising the arrival of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show which visited Taunton in August 1903. Buffalo Bill (Col. William Cody ) toured the UK using four special trains carrying 500 horses and 800 people. The latter supposedly including 100 American Indians. The show took place twice daily at the “ Poor Grounds “ at the bottom of East Reach.
Memories of Taunton - With Nick Chipchase Bridge Street Taunton c1904 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 “ of postcard production dating 1902 to around 1914. Many are quite formulaic, though, and not so well animated as this one. The social historian will see a lot of interest here. We can date the image by the fact that the tram system opened in Taunton in August 1901. Initially six double decker trams were in use but these were replaced by single deckers in 1904 and the line relaid on granite setts which are not seen in the image.The covered cart belonged to Mr George Paul the well known Taunton pawnbroker.” Georgie Paul’s three brass balls “ the children cried. Paul’s shop was at the top of East Reach. There were three pawnbrokers in the town at this time. Above the cart is a sign for “ Pratt’s Motor Spirit “. The term “petrol “ was then covered by copyright by Carless, Capel and Leonard now part of Petrochem UK an oil refining business.
 Like any town Taunton has its fair share of problems. The High Street is suffering with online shoppers and we have seen the historic County Stores close their doors after 186 years. Many want our town to be like it was years ago in the ‘good olde days’. Those rose tinted glasses fit snug as we reminisce over our history. A time when people looked out for each other and the town was a vibrant place to live.
The truth is, we do still care, buildings evolve with a change in usage as they have always done. Times change. Get over it. There’s nothing we can do but look forward. What does the next incarnation of Taunton look like? We have more tools at our disposal and we can communicate faster than ever before. Memories of Taunton - With Nick Chipchase The County Hotel, Taunton c 1925..jpg 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 when it also incorporated a cinema. I love the film posters as they tell a story though I have not been able to trace the film mentioned. 'The Mormon and His Wives'.
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