Words on the street after half a century
This photograph, far right, shows Maidstone High Street as it was 50 years ago.
It was taken in September 1969 and, although the scene is still very recognisable today, clearly much has changed.
Instead of the pedestrianised area of today’s Jubilee Square, the street had a number of parking bays and traffic was still able to drive down Bank Street - now a car-free zone.
Although you cannot see them, on the left are Barratts shoe shop and a J.Lyons tea-house.
You can observe from the lane markings, that cars were also then still permitted to drive down Gabriels Hill.
On the right of the picture is today’s NatWest bank, then still just the Westminster Bank - no cash-points of course. Further down the road were Bennetts, Murdochs, the Royal Insurance building (now the Muggleton Inn) and Dolcis shoe shop - all gone today.
Before the advent of the mobile phone, one imagines that the two telephone boxes outside the town hall were very useful.
For those too young to remember, to make a call then you entered the box - quite a task as the doors were really heavy checked your appearance in the convenient little mirror above the receiver, and then looked up your number in the unvandalised pull-out in-kiosk directory. The next step was to insert your pennies into the slot, dial the number and when the telephone was picked up at the other end you pressed button A.
Your money would then drop through to a cash box and your call was connected.
If, however, your call wasn’t answered you would press button B and your money would be returned to you.
If you couldn’t find the number, you could go through the operator.
If they were successful in obtaining a response from the intended recipient, she (it was always a she) would then tell you to press button A.
Behind the two phone boxes, you may notice there is no door to the town hall - only a window where the central door is today. This is a mystery because, although there is another entrance to the building from the High Street side, we also have an earlier picture, taken in 1938 which clearly shows the central door in place.
Did Maidstone Borough Council for some reason block off the door and replace it with a window between 1938 and 1969 and then subsequently change their minds and restore the door? Today’s council officers could throw no light on the subject, so if any readers know the story we would be happy to hear it. There are plenty of bus-stops in Maidstone High Street, though at this moment (10 past 10 by the town hall clock) no buses.
If one had been visible it would probably have been in the green and cream livery of the Maidstone and District Bus Company, though it might still have been the blue and cream of the Maidstone Corporation Transport - no Arriva or Nu-Venture then. Among the cars and vans, we recognise a Ford Escort, Ford Cortina, a Commer van, a Morris Minor, a Ford Transit and a Mini Traveller - but not a single Hyundai, Toyota, Kia or Mazda. Perhaps readers can fill us in on what we have missed?