Looking west towards Stockton Street up Albion Street. The building facing in Stockton Street is John Pounder plumbing and heating store. The south side of the street was already cleared when this was taken. The number of prams suggests that there were a lot of young families in the street at the time !

The photo was from a photographic record of the Central Area of West Hartlepool prepared in 1955/6 at the request of the Town Planning and Redevelopment Committee 'in the hope that it will be of interest to future generations of West Hartlepool'  

The record focuses on areas which were within the next ten years to be completely redeveloped following The Max Lock Plan. It was compiled by WL Taylor and photographs developed by Thomas Clarkson Chemist of Tower Street.

Taken in 1968 from the roof of the newly built College of Further Education, this image shows a quickly changing town centre.

Recognisable today are the Cenotaph and to the right of it, the Grand Hotel, both in Victoria Road. Also visible between these two structures is the old Essoldo cinema or Carlton Bingo as it is now. Two church spires can be seen, the one slightly further away is St Paul's in Grange Road and  the one slightly closer is the now demolished York Road Methodist Church which was on the corner of South Road.

The large shop on the left on Stockton Street is Pounders which had been a plumbing and heating business but a large extension was built to the right of the original shop and in this area a wide range of quite upmarket fancy goods for the home were sold. The street running west beside this shop is Thornton Street. The large sawmill has disappeared as have the streets running north from Thornton St - Peckett, Wesley and Hanover Streets making way for Middleton Grange Shopping Centre which is under construction.

One of Stockton Street's last buildings, the Good Intent pub is the white building at the end of the terrace.

From a 1962 advert, John Pounder's business opened a large extension seen here to the right of the original store.

An advert persuading townsfolk to insulate their pipes in preparation for cold winters.

The image shows John Pounder's shop in Stockton Street with the Coop to the left.

Pounders were plumbers, but the shop, which sold bathrooms and fires, also sold a vast range of lighting and fancy goods for the home. The photo is from around 1954.

Premier Commercial & Temperance Hotel on Stockton Street/ Bell Terrace corner, Hartlepool

To the right of the building is a Coop and beyond that, far right, is Pounder's plumbing and electrical showroom. 

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