Shell BP - Curfew Tower, Moreton In Marsh, Gloucestershire 1950s
The Curfew Tower in Moreton In Marsh is a very old building, in fact a lot of Moreton is old - much of the original town dates from the 1500s. The Curfew Tower is said to be the oldest building of all in the town and was originally used to lock up petty thieves and drunks when there was no police force or any other place to keep undesirables away from the rest of society. Also it is situated on the Fosse Way, one of the oldest routes in Britain, the High Street is part of that ancient road. Fast forward to the near present day and we find it now a petrol station selling Shell and BP - which means the picture can accurately be dated to at earliest last 1950's but also possibly early 1960's. There is a fantastic boom extending from the visible pump, the blue and white item bottom right corner appears to be a portable tyre inflater - I think the gauge on the front is for measuring pressure. It is a shame the postmark was placed so heavily on the reverse side that it has bled through to the picture side but it still shows a lovely town in an era when it would have been much quieter than today where at this very point there is a busy junction between the A44 and the A429. The A44 is the main route from Oxford to Worcester and the A429 is part of the Fosse Way, a route that extends from Exeter all the way to Lincoln. A 1970's view is shown below www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.9901148,-1.7031233,3a,90y,98.7h...
Shell BP - Curfew Tower, Moreton In Marsh, Gloucestershire 1950s
The Curfew Tower in Moreton In Marsh is a very old building, in fact a lot of Moreton is old - much of the original town dates from the 1500s. The Curfew Tower is said to be the oldest building of all in the town and was originally used to lock up petty thieves and drunks when there was no police force or any other place to keep undesirables away from the rest of society. Also it is situated on the Fosse Way, one of the oldest routes in Britain, the High Street is part of that ancient road. Fast forward to the near present day and we find it now a petrol station selling Shell and BP - which means the picture can accurately be dated to at earliest last 1950's but also possibly early 1960's. There is a fantastic boom extending from the visible pump, the blue and white item bottom right corner appears to be a portable tyre inflater - I think the gauge on the front is for measuring pressure. It is a shame the postmark was placed so heavily on the reverse side that it has bled through to the picture side but it still shows a lovely town in an era when it would have been much quieter than today where at this very point there is a busy junction between the A44 and the A429. The A44 is the main route from Oxford to Worcester and the A429 is part of the Fosse Way, a route that extends from Exeter all the way to Lincoln. A 1970's view is shown below www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.9901148,-1.7031233,3a,90y,98.7h...