Category: Uncategorized

Blackhorse Lane, London

A view of the Royal Standard in Blackhorse Lane, E17 in the 1970s. The Standard was a popular music venue for many years and was directly opposite Blackhorse Road tube station on the Victoria Line.

Image: Photographer unknown

I took this photograph in 2020 and, in the intervening years, the area around the Standard has completely changed with new developments of flats apparent behind it. In the last couple of weeks (Summer 2023) the Standard was finally demolished.

Image: ©TimeViews 2020

A merged version of the two images. Use the slider in the centre.

Hampstead, London

Hampstead in North London with the Underground station clearly visible on the right. I believe the photograph was taken in the 1980s.

Image: Photographer unknown

The same view in April 2023. Image: ©TimeViews 2023

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Queensway, London

This photograph was taken around 1866 and Bayswater station was opened on October 1st., 1868. It was initially used by steam trains operated by Metropolitan Railway – which became the Metropolitan lines. Construction of the railway line required the excavation of a ‘cut and cover’ tunnel. In Leinster Gardens, the frontages of two houses which were demolished to make way for the line were reconstructed to restore the appearance of a terrace of houses. The station has had a number on names over the years – Bayswater (Queen’s Road & Westbourne Grove (1926), Bayswater (Queen’s Road) (1933), Bayswater (Queensway) (1946) and finally Bayswater, when the suffix was gradually dropped.

Image: Photographer unknown

The same view in November 2022.

Image: © TimeViews Steven Miell

A merged version of the two images.

King’s Road, London

Taken in 1908, this postcard photograph shows the Chelsea Old Town Hall in the King’s Road, Chelsea. This building was constructed in a Neoclassical style at a cost of £35,000. It was completed in 1907. For a while, it was the seat of government for the local council, but ceased to be that when the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea was created in 1965. The Kensington and Chelsea Register Office was in this building and hosted several famous weddings including that of Judy Garland to Mickey Deans in 1969.
The interior of the building was comprehensively refurbished – completed in 2019.
Image: Courtesy of Kensington and Chelsea Council
I took this comparison photograph in December 2021. It was a question of waiting until the traffic was quiet – this was the quietest moment!
Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
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Liverpool Street, London

Taken in 1960, this photograph shows the entrance to Liverpool Street Station – opposite the London Underground roundel. On the left, taxis are seen emerging from the sloping entrance to the station.
Image: Photographer unknown

In November 2021, the station has been completely transformed. The ‘Eastern Region Headquarters’ building is now a McDonald’s. Image: ©TimeViews Steven Miell
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Cambridge Circus, London

The Palace Theatre in London’s Cambridge Circus was built in 1891. It was intended to be Richard D’Oyly Carte’s ‘Royal English Opera House’. The theatre opened in January 1891. However, it soon became apparent that it was not going to work as an opera house and was converted (in 1892)  into a Music Hall and Variety theatre. It was renamed ‘The Palace Theatre of Varieties’. In 1989, the Theatre’s exterior was restored to its former glory, and in 2004, the interior was also restored. This photograph was taken in the 1900s.
Image: Photographer unknown
The October 2020 view of the Palace Theatre. Harry Potter is in the middle of a run – interrupted by the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
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Fleet Street, London

This house in London’s Fleet Street is one of the few surviving buildings in the City of London which dates from before the Great Fire of London (1666). It is now a Grade ll listed building.
Once owned by the Templars, the building was rebuilt in 1610 and became a tavern called Prince’s Arms – which coincide with the investiture of the son of James l (Prince Henry) as Prince of Wales. In 1661, Samuel Pepys was a visitor (it was then called the Fountain Inn). In the early part of the 19th century, an exhibition (Mrs. Salmon’s Waxworks) was held here. Since 1900, the building has been administered by various incarnations of London Corporations.
Image: Photographer unknown (1920s)
The same building in October 2021.
Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
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Old Compton Street, London

This theatre in Soho’s Old Compton Street was constructed in 1930. It was named after Prince Edward (who became Edwards VIII, and then the Duke of Windsor) and opened in April 1930. Josephine Baker performed her famous ‘Banana Dance’ in this theatre.
In 1935, the theatre was converted into a dance and cabaret hall, and was renamed the ‘London Casino’. During WW2 (in May 1941), it was badly damaged by German bombs and in 1942 it reopened as the ‘Queensberry All Services Club’. Shows for service personnel were staged here and then broadcast on the BBC. After the war, it reverted to the ‘London Casino’ incarnation (this photograph is from 1947) before, in the 1970s, going back to its original name.
Image: Photographer unknown
‘Mary Poppins’ is the production currently occupying the theatre. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the theatre was dark at the time of this photograph in September 2020.
Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
A merged version of the two photographs. Use the slider in the centre.