PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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1950 Four new schools were to be opened after the Easter school holidays. They were South Crownhill Juniors, West Efford Infants, Montpelier Infants and a temporary school on the new Ernesettle estate. Work was expected to start on two schools at Ernesettle, one for juniors and infants and the other for juniors only. New schools were also promised for Barne Barton and Whitleigh. On June 2nd 1950 a £2 million hospital scheme for the Derriford Estate was announced. The Admiralty put their proposals to the Council on July 3rd 1950. During a visit to Plymouth on July 22nd the Minister of Works suggested that the Guildhall should be demolished. The new West Efford Junior School was due to be opened in September 1950. Work started on Sunday October 1st 1950 on a new store for the Plymouth Co-operative Society. On Monday October 2nd 1950 the Admiralty authorised the Council to start purchasing land in Devonport. The owners of the old Grand Theatre were given permission on Monday October 16th 1950 to restore their building. F W Woolworth's became the first department store to re-open in the reconstruction programme, when it opened on Friday November 24th 1950. 1951 New schools expected to be opened during 1951 included Honicknowle Secondary Modern, Efford Secondary Modern, and a primary school at Knowle Fort. New schools were also promised for Pennycross, Burleigh House, St Budeaux and Lipson. Demolition work on the old Prudential Insurance building started on Monday January 22nd 1951. Dingle's department store opened its doors on Saturday September 1st 1951, and 40,000 people visited it on the first day. Included in the design by Sir John Burnett was Plymouth's first example of an escalator. On Thursday September 20th 1951 the first major slum clearance scheme in England since the end of the War was announced. The demolition of the Pembroke Street area of Devonport was to start in twelve months. On September 24th 1951 it was stated that while the old General Post Office in Westwell Street had been acquired for £40,000 plus fees, the new one at St Andrew's Cross was to be leased to the Post Office for 99 years at a ground rent of £3,500 per annum. The foundation stone of the partially completed Pearl Assurance House was laid on Tuesday October 16th 1951. The building was to cost £600,000. Norwich Union House, on the corner of Old Town Street and Royal Parade, was opened on Tuesday November 6th 1951, only 15 months after receiving the building licence. The plans for the new Plymouth North Road Station were announced on Sunday November 11th 1951. During 1951 the Plymouth Register Office moved from its war-time accommodation at 13 Thorn Park, Mannamead, to a concrete fronted Nissan hut at 7 Belle Vue Place, North Road. Also during the year the first part of the Whitleigh housing estate was occupied and the footbridge linking it with Honicknowle was opened. Its 362 foot span was the longest of its kind in the country at the time and it underwent vigorous testing before it was brought into use. 1952 Armada Way, Cornwall Street and New George Street were all under construction in 1952. Milehouse Hill became a dual-carriageway in January 1952 when the tram tracks in the centre of the road were removed. Work on demolishing "Tin Pan Alley" started on Monday February 11th 1952. Plymouth was advised on February 25th 1952 to re-design its new buildings to dispense with the use of steel as far as possible, due to a national shortage. On February 28th 1952 it was announced that although 8,500 homes had been built since 1945 a further 10,000 were still needed. The cost of the reconstruction work so far was announced on March 10th 1952 as being £4,750,000. A new abattoir for the City was opened at Prince Rock on Saturday April 12th 1952. To help the flow of traffic, a new roundabout was installed at the junction of Mutley Plain, Alexandra Road and Greenbank Hill. It was replaced by traffic lights in 1964. On Friday July 18th 1952 HRH the Princess Margaret opened the new NAAFI building in Notte Street. On August 8th 1952 it was revealed that Plymouth had built 31½% more houses per 1,000 population than its leading rival county borough. John Yeo's new store was opened in September 1952. On Wednesday September 10th 1952 the new Boy Scout headquarters at Blindman's Wood was inaugurated. Work started on Monday September 15th 1952 on extending the Naval War Memorial on the Hoe. In October 1952 work started on the new Market. On October 20th 1952 the City Engineer announced he was to spend £78,000,000 over the next 20 years on reconstruction works. The foundation stone of the Royal Insurance Building at St Andrew's Cross was laid on Friday October 24th 1952. It was completed in 1954. "Fine Chance to Speed Rebuilding" ran the headline on the Western Evening Herald when the chairman of the Works Committee, Councillor W A Miller, launched a drive to make available to the steel industry as many tons of scrap metal as possible. The reconstruction of the City Centre required 2,200 tons per annum and the increased demand and decreasing imports of steel had led to a shortage. The target for Plymouth was to collect 450 tons or 20 lbs per household. This was equated to two iron pans and an old fireplace or a pair of bed-ends. It was to be collected on normal refuse rounds but extra vehicles would be employed. 'If the collectors should miss any household.. telephone 2821 extension 302'. Sadly, on November 1st it was announced that the scrap collection had yielded only 232 tons and so the drive would be extended for another week. When it finally came to an end on Saturday November 8th 1952, only 280 tons had been collected. Three Building Licenses, worth £65,000, were granted on November 17th 1952, in an effort to relieve unemployment in the local building industry. On November 20th 1952 it was announced that 1,017 Council houses and 138 private developer houses had been completed. The new Co-operative House opened its doors on Saturday December 27th 1952. 1953 At a public inquiry into the "Plan for Plymouth" held at the Devonport Guildhall, a question was asked about the need to demolish 22 public houses in Stonehouse, to which Mr Paton Watson replied: 'I do not think the public houses are open when the men have their tea breaks. It is tea they drink nowadays.' Pearl Assurance House was opened on Friday January 9th 1953. Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, opened the new YWCA building in Lockyer Street on Wednesday March 18th 1953. On March 20th plans were approved for the last department store to be built on Royal Parade, which was Popham's. On Friday April 10th 1953 the Junior Chamber of Commerce announced a scheme to build a low-level bridge across the River Tamar at Saltash. It would cost less than £500,000. Forty people started building their own houses at Crownhill on Monday April 13th 1953. In June 1953 a new Bus Station was opened on waste ground in Union Street. On Friday June 19th 1953 the Lord Mayor of Plymouth, Alderman Sir Clifford Tozer, opened the new branch of Boot's the Chemist at the junction of Old Town Street and New George Street. The original presmies in George Street had been destroyed in the Second World War some twelve years before. The manager was Mr G H Levett. New Building Licenses amounting to £216, 450 were granted on June 15th 1953. The new store for Messrs John Yeo & Company Ltd was opened by 13-years-old Master David Beckly, son of the managing director, on Tuesday September 8th 1953. In November 1953 the new store of Timothy White's was opened, just 7 months after the first shovel of earth had been dug on April 19th. The demolition of Colonial House in Millbay Road at a cost of £180 was authorised on November 16th 1953. 1954 The old Sugar Refinery in Mill Street had to be vacated by March 1st 1954, in preparation for demolition. On Thursday May 20th 1954 HRH the Princess Margaret laid a stone marking the commencement of the reconstruction of the Central Library. Sir Thomas Sheepshanks, KCB, KBE, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, opened the 10,000th post-war municipal dwelling to be built by Plymouth City Council on Tuesday June 22nd 1954. In July 1954 work started on reconstructing the Guildhall. 1955 In was announced in June 1955 that Charles Church was to become a war memorial to the civilians who lost their lives in the Second World War. Contractors Messrs Richard Costain Ltd started work on the new store for Messrs Popham's in July 1955. 1956 14,374 Council houses and 2,283 private houses had been completed since the end of the War, along with 18 primary and 6 secondary modern schools. The cost of land acquisition and clearance had been £4,500,000. the cost of new roads, drains and sewers had amounted to £432,000 and the cost of new buildings had been £6 million. On Sunday January 8th 1956 the congregation of the blitzed King Street Methodist Chapel held the first service in their new, temporary home at number 5 George Street, one of the former temporary shops erected during the 1940s in the devastated City Centre. The reconstructed Central Library was reopened on Wednesday February 22nd 1956. Though not a matter of "reconstruction" it might be important to mention that in May 1956 the last of the buses with wooden seats was withdrawn. They left their impression on many Plymothians. The new premises of Messrs Spooner & Company Ltd were completed in May 1956. 1957 The public house, "The Old Ring of Bells", in Woolster Street was demolished in January 1957. In May 1957 Messrs Brown & Sharpe opened a new factory at Ernesettle. On Wednesday July 31st 1957 the Tamar Bridge Act was passed by Parliament. The Tamar Bridge Joint Committee was set up on Wednesday October 9th 1957. The rebuilt St Andrew's Church was reconsecrated on Saturday November 30th 1957. During 1957 new premises were completed for Popham's, Lloyds Bank and Barclay's Bank Chambers. 1958 Early in January 1958 a start was made on the demolition of the shops that remained isolated in the centre of Derry's Cross roundabout. The eastern end of King Street, Plymouth, from the railway arch towards the City Centre, was demolished in February 1958. On Friday February 7th 1958 the so-called "Viaduct" or Eastern Approach road was officially opened. On Thursday February 27th 1958 the new Popham's store was opened in Royal Parade. It had been housed in some 22 different buildings around Plymouth since the original premises in Bedford Street were bombed in March 1941. This was a few weeks ahead of Bretonside Bus Station, beneath the Viaduct, which was opened quietly on Sunday March 30th 1958. The first passenger to board a bus was Mr Eric Watson of 7 The Esplanade, The Hoe, who used the 5.05am Western National service to Ivybridge in order to start his duty at Moorhaven Hospital. The new YMCA in Cobourg Street was opened on Wednesday May 14th 1958. Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Onslow, Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, laid the foundation stone for the new Royal Sailors' Rest at Devonport on Friday May 23rd 1958. A new cinema, the Drake, was opened on Friday June 6th 1958. HRH the Duchess of Kent opened the Miles Mitchell village for elderly people in October 1958. 1959 It was reported in July 1959 that since 1947 the Reconstruction Committee of the City Council had spent £8,602,301 on land acquisition. The new Plymouth Pannier Market was opened on Monday September 7th 1959. Lord Montgomery re-opened the Guildhall on Thursday September 24th 1959. A major event in the provision of fresh water to Plymouth came with the official opening of the River Tavy Water Scheme at Crownhill Water Treatment Works on Saturday October 3rd 1959. The opening was carried out by Dame Evelyn Sharp. Work started on a new Laira Bridge in November 1959.
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