138 High Street
Current
138
High Street
Lowestoft
NR32 1HR
United Kingdom
History
In 1865 Mr George Corbyn was running the shop as a Clothier but the building was rebuilt from the one you can see above, you can see the original building opposite. Once it was rebuilt it became Geneva House and the grand cast iron clock was erected sometime in 1885. In the Kelly's directory of 1932 the shop had been taken over by Mr S. Smith and he was running it as Patrick's Clothing Store but by 1952 the shop was still trading under the same name but the proprietor was now G. F. Dickins. In 1967 the shop had become The Clock Antique Shop and you can see in the 2nd picture taken in 1998 the shop became A New Concept in Slimming and Fitness. In 2016 the shop is The Wright Place Cafe, the only place to get a full English in the High Street. In 2015 the business here operated as the "Rumbling Tum", but the Wright Place signage remained.
CREDIT: Lowestoft High Street, The Butcher, The Baker and The Candlestick Maker by Crispin Hook 2016 Get the book
Architecture
This 1870 Photo shows original Blue Anchor. No 134 to 140 you can see a mixture of different types of architecture. One of the properties... in amongst the shops, is still a private house. It's not a shop, it hasn't been adapted. And the other fascinating thing about it, and one of the reasons I picked this picture, is the shopfronts are being protected from the strong sunlight by awnings, now these awnings were actually large large roller blinds that were rolled up and stored in the fascia above the shop window
Then they could be pulled forward when the sun was strong. You can see here, this is... this picture I would imagine is taken quite early in the morning on a very sunny day, east is to our left so the sun is still basically in the east and quite low.
And they've got to look in your shop window, so at the end of each day they would wind the awning in and out, wouldn't they? So we've got one, two, three, here you can see these are all protecting their goods from the strong sunlight. I'm not sure if this gentleman in this shop is trying to... put his up, or if he's got a problem. CREDIT: Ivan Bunn from transcript - Poetry People - High Street Histories
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