Bath Street before the war.

Does anybody know any details of Bath Street before the war, it is the proposed site of Brent's new boulevard between union street by the Two Trees out onto Milbay Rd.
The reason I'm asking is that I'm doing some geanology and my great grandfather lived there with his family in 1919. Poor bugger was in a lorry in the Somme 10 days before the end of the great war which got shelled and he lost his leg. He got his discharge and lived down there and I've been told it was pretty well slum dwellings. He used to sell lighting sticks and coal from a tin shed in George St. with two of his boys pushing a handcart around the city. He used to get off cuts of wood from Pearns builders apparently who were sympathetic to him as a war casualty.
I'm guessing that all the houses got bombed during the second world war as Bath Street is now where the club is (can't remember it's name but been there a few times) and all the buildings all obviously hail from that era.
Anybody know of any sites with before and after photos?

There's a group on facebook - "old pictures of plymouth, devonport etc" that has a lot of old plymouth pictures on it. I think you have to apply to join-

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They have 83 albums so could have some of Bath Street- or just ask if anyone has any?

Knecht is always putting up old pictures of Plymouth on Facebook, so probably worth contacting him

Pre-war pictures of Plymouth are really interesting. My grandparents lived in Milehouse and he worked at Devonport, but he lost a leg when their house was bombed and they moved to Cornwall.  I never knew him, but apparently he had a season-ticket in 'the stand' throughout the 30s - presumably what's now the Mayflower. 

I wonder if he moaned about Argyle as much as the rest of us.

The irony of ATD's smelliest young rotter having ancestry in 'Bath' Street..!

I haven't been able to enlarge this Plymouth WW2 bomb map (my Dad did have a paper copy but no idea where he kept it- think Plymouth Library may have one) but does show where every (exploding) bomb fell.

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Found this on the Plymouth History Appreciation Society Facebook page (it shows the junction to Bath st but not Bath street itself)-

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LINK

Description-
A colour postcard of Union Street dating from c1900. Some of the buildings on the near right (Flora Place) still exist, albeit behind the shop façades and the strip club. Flora Place was all residential (except for the Turkish Baths in the middle of the terrace) until the 1890s. The junctions on the left and right to Bath Street and Flora Street respectively were the main routes to the Victorian brothel districts of Plymouth.

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Think the above shows Bath Street (diagonal street at bottom of picture coming off the Octagon?). Taken in 1920s.

LINK

Bath st ran from the railway bridge crossing Union St that took the railway to Millbay Station and on to Millbay docks
The street came out on the railway gates crossing taking train from station into the docks. The Pavilion is where the station was. The train cross just below the pub.

Chemical Ali wrote:

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Think the above shows Bath Street (diagonal street at bottom of picture coming off the Octagon?). Taken in 1920s.

LINK

Bath Street is about two streets to the right as you look at the one coming off the Octagon, either facing the railway lines or the one to the left. Now it's right opposite the old cinema or Warehouse/ Monroes club. Great pic, thanks Chem and everybody else. I found the other pictures you posted but not that one which is the best.
Always wondered why I felt so at home in Union Street.

Tgwu wrote:

Bath st ran from the railway bridge crossing Union St that took the railway to Millbay Station and on to Millbay docks
The street came out on the railway gates crossing taking train from station into the docks. The Pavilion is where the station was. The train cross just below the pub.

So that would be the one running alongside the tracks at the bottom right? Thinking about it Bath street has some arches alongside the left hand side ( walking up from union st end) which must have been underneath the lines?
Thanks.

All I remember of the railway is the old car park where toysarus is now, if you walked through there up the hill there were still a load of tracks up there, nth of Wyndham Square and the Cathedral. Me and a mate got drunk on cider with a tramp there when we bunked off college one day, must have been sixteen or seventeen, it was freezing cold and he had a fire going, we got talking and he asked if we'd go and get him some cider from the pub up there as he was banned. I think it's the Grapes? Anyway we were guzzling scrumpy having a fine old time until my legs went, heaved my guts up and my head was spinning like a top. Ended up waking up about ten o clock on my own, fire out, feeling I'll with near hypothermia. Happy daze.

Iggy wrote:

Tgwu wrote:

Bath st ran from the railway bridge crossing Union St that took the railway to Millbay Station and on to Millbay docks
The street came out on the railway gates crossing taking train from station into the docks. The Pavilion is where the station was. The train cross just below the pub.

So that would be the one running alongside the tracks at the bottom right? Thinking about it Bath street has some arches alongside the left hand side ( walking up from union st end) which must have been underneath the lines?
Thanks.

There were arches under the bridge and going up either side of the railway line, big granite walls they were built into. The one thing I remember about Millbay, Kings Road and Friary Road statons They all had the circus at one time arrive by train and a parade to Central Park

That station was where the Pavilion is now, the train came over Union St ,

Whilst we're on about old footage and pics, I found some crakers on the Path'e archives.

Not sure if this link will work................

Tamar bridge, ferry etc.....

Plymouth Zoo (Argyle in the background)

Does anybody know the where abouts or remember, Ropers' Piece? It's adjacent to Love Lane and Eastwell Street, (or it was in 1760) none of which I can find although a love lane sounds familiar, I did wonder if it was in CP?

Remember Millbay station well, i think it was knocked down around about 1974 along with the removal of the embankments and bridges taking the line to North Road. The railway certainly had more character than the rather bland and boring stuff that was put in its place, the same could be said of the destruction of much of the system in Plymouth- knocking down Kings Road station and replacing it with that horrible college building must have been among the worst examples of 1960's/70's Philistinism. Some good stuff on here about Millbay and the Plymouth railway system in general;

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Iggy wrote:

Does anybody know the where abouts or remember, Ropers' Piece? It's adjacent to Love Lane and Eastwell Street, (or it was in 1760) none of which I can find although a love lane sounds familiar, I did wonder if it was in CP?

I think I may have seen love lane on the hoe- is it near the derelict quality hotel?

Found some Council archive records and Love Lane is adjacent to Westwell street-

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It appears Ropers piece was in the area where the Holiday Inn stands now (it may have been later known as Friars Park?)-

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Repository: Plymouth and West Devon Record Office
Ref: PCC/45/1/3253
Title: Property registration: Plymouth, The Moathouse, [Holiday Inn Hotel], Armada Way, The Hoe, formerly part of the site of 7, Windsor Street, 'Windsor Cottage' 8, Windsor Street, 8-9, Hoe Park Terrace, 'Sussex House' Sussex Street and 5, 6, 9 and 11, Sussex Street, (previously lands known as ropers piece , otherwise Friars Park)

Picture of Westwell Street- I'm assuming that it is St Andrews church in background?

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This isn't directly relevant but it does describe typical living conditions in Prince Rock and the Barbican contemperaneous with the time period you are after - I'd imagine that Bath Street was similar.

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If nothing else the bibliography at the end of the piece might be worth chasing up.

And even if it doesn't help it is interesting.

The club used to be Ziggy's back along. I think it is The Hub now. It has had lots of names over the years.

there is a website about this sort of thing.... im trying to remember what its called so i can post its link here for you.

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Sir Francis Drake wrote:

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thats the one

It's been closed down by the owner.

Sir Francis Drake wrote:

This isn't directly relevant but it does describe typical living conditions in Prince Rock and the Barbican contemperaneous with the time period you are after - I'd imagine that Bath Street was similar.

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If nothing else the bibliography at the end of the piece might be worth chasing up.

And even if it doesn't help it is interesting.

The club used to be Ziggy's back along. I think it is The Hub now. It has had lots of names over the years.

Thanks for that Franny,
Re the clubs, Ziggys' was just around the back of the taxi office used to go there a lot, the hub was and is about a hundred yards up the road from there and is called something else now.