Images from the past
Old negatives going digital
THERE was a time when Uxbridge could boast a flourishing business in the shape of Harman’s Brewery, but we wonder whether anyone has any recollection of it.
The business was set up by George Harman in 1763, and moved into new headquarters in High Street in 1875.
After the Harmans sold the business, the eventual owner, Courage, closed the headquarters in 1964.
It was demolished and replaced by a supermarket before that, in turn, was knocked down and the site was given over to what eventually became The Chimes shopping centre, and now intu Uxbridge.
Our photograph shows the stately, white-fronted building in about 1930.
This is one of thousands of pictures taken during the early 20th century by Gazette photographers on glass plate negatives, which were stored at the Civic Centre when the Gazette was moving office.
They are now gradually being converted to digital images by specialists at Trinity Mirror Group’s photographic archive in Watford, which contains more than 20 million images from all over the UK.
During the coming weeks, we will be looking at some of these unique views of our community, and inviting any of you who might have your memories jogged by these pictures to contribute your own comments or, indeed, other images.
We look forward to sharing with you the images of how our towns and villages have changed over the years.
The Gazette will be publishing a steady stream of wonderful old pictures, thanks to the Trinity Mirror archive, both in print and online. In the meantime, for a larger selection of pictures, go to www.getwestlondon.co.uk/ backintime/