Broadmead looks unrecognisable in old photos from the 1950s
Photos from decades past show a very different city centre
Broadmead has undergone massive changes over past decades since the bombing of Bristol in the 1940s. Whole streets have disappeared where Castle Park and Cabot Circus now stand.
They include Ellbroad Street, Tower Lane, Castle Mill Street, Narrow Weir and Milk Street, although there is now a Milk Street at Cabot Circus. Most were destroyed during redevelopment in the 1950s, while others are still there but are hard to recognise.
Communities which had been in the heart of Bristol disappeared, with most of the residents rehoused in council flats and houses around the edge of the city. These new homes may have been better quality but there was still a sense of nostalgia for familiar landmarks and gathering places where there had once been a tight-knit community.
Read more: Pictures show old Cribbs Causeway photos from the 90s
Bristol needed a shopping centre, and that meant attracting the big-name stores. Marks & Spencer, Woolworths, C&A, Dolcis, Swears & Wells and others wanted big, modern shops.
Change was underway and Broadmead has since developed into a huge shopping hub which offers an eye-watering array of products and services and attracts shoppers from across the region, although the 2020s look set to bring another wave of regeneration as shopping habits change.
Scroll through the gallery below to see how Broadmead looked in the 1950s, as well as a few from the 60s, 70s and 80s:
St James’s Square Avenue, looking towards Milk Street, 1954. The modern view would be towards what is now The Horsefair from somewhere close to the little alley joining Bond Street and the Horsefair called Barr’s Court.
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The Old Crown pub, Broad Weir, 1953.
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The drinking fountain in the Horsefair, 1952. It would soon be removed to make way for Lewis’s department store.
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The Rising Sun pub, Lower Castle Street, 1953.
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Broadmead, 1952. Bruton’s piano shop has a sale on “due to compulsory relocation”. The same view today is towards the circular area in the middle of the shopping area
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300-year-old blacksmith’s shop, Old King Street, July 1953. Soon to be demolished.
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