Tuesday 21 September 2010

Albion Hill, September 1940


Terraced houses such as these, with gardens too small to accomodate Anderson shelters would still have been awaiting the alternative Morrisons when, inconsiderately, as the Blitz intensified, the bombs began to fall. The only protection was to be found in the cupboard under the stairs, the staircase being reckoned the strongest part of the house. Although Lord HawHaw threatened Brighton on a least one occasion it was probably never a prime target, more the recipient of left-over bombs from enemy aircraft  returning from London; or bombs jettisoned at the first sight of land by over-eager pilots anxious to get home to tea, or whatever the German equivalent was in those days.


I have spent some time trying to decide if the modern photo is of exactly the same spot. Different cameras yield different perspectives which can be misleading, and there has been much rebuilding, thankfully in sympathetic styles. I think it is clinched by what appears to be identical chimney stacks near the centre of both pictures: and the house numbering; the second house from the corner being no. 48 and the digit  "8" being also discernible in the 1940 photo.

7 comments:

  1. They look similar at first glance, but surely the church would be of the same size? The difference looks substantial...

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  2. It depends on the focal length of the lenses used I think.

    Also walking up the hill on the south pavement this is the only place where the church aligns in anything like the same position as in the 1940 shot.

    I'd be happy to consider other suggestions. You can see enlarged views by clicking on the photos :)

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  3. Have deicided to revisit Albion Hill sometime to see if I can find a better location.; especially with regard to lining-up the church with the distant skyline.

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  4. I am informed that the grocer Mitchell shown in the top photo was on the corner of Belgrave Street, not Quebec Street. This is much lower down Albion Hill and the number of the house next door is probably 18 not 48.

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  6. This is bomb damage between Belgrave St and Newhaven St. The photo is from a viewpoint on the corner of Belgrave Street. No18 Albion Hill is clear to see. The damage is to the terreces between Belgrave and Newhaven Street: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=19&lat=50.82803&lon=-0.13167&layers=168&right=BingHyb

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  7. This is the site of the corner shop in the 1950's http://regencysociety-jamesgray.com/volume27/source/jg_27_047.html

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