Forest Road, Walthamstow, London

This building was commissioned to replace the earlier Walthamstow Town Hall (erected 1876). It was built on a site previously occupied by Chestnuts Farm. Work started in 1938 and was interrupted by the Second World War – finally being finished in 1942. The building became the home of Waltham Forest Borough Council in 1965.
Image: Photographer unknown (1950s)
In the intervening years, the building on the left was opened in 1972. This was the home of the Waltham Forest Magistrate’s Court which eventually closed in 2017. The current plans are to transform the building into additional offices for the Council. This photograph was taken in April 2020.
Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
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High Holborn, London

Looking down High Holborn in 1955. Holborn underground station is visible on the right-hand side of the photograph. The traffic in 1955 was two-way. In the middle of the junction, a policeman gives directions.
Image: Allan Hailstone
The same view in September 2017. The road is now one-way.
Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
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Temple Bar Gate – Fleet Street and Paternoster Square, London

Although a ‘Bar’ was first mentioned in 1293, the earliest known documentary evidence of ‘Temple Bar’ is in 1327. In 1384, Strand Street (from Temple Bar to the Savoy,) was paved – tolls were collected here to pay for that work.
It was used in many Royal funeral processions including those of Henry V (1422) and Elizabeth of York (1503). Also, Anne Boleyn passed through here in 1534 – the day before her planned coronation – she was on the way to the Tower! The Temple Bar was undamaged by London’s Great Fire (1666). However, at the instigation of King Charles II it was rebuilt between 1669 and 1672. The design was attributed to Sir Christopher Wren. Statues of Anne of Denmark, James l, Charles I, and Charles II, were placed in the niches in the upper floor at that time to celebrate the Monarchy’s Restoration.
In the 18th century, the severed heads of convicted traitors were often mounted on pikes and displayed on the roof.
Although the seven other main gateways to London were demolished in the 1760s, Temple Bar remained. In the 1870s, it was in serious danger of collapse and was propped up by timbers – which can be seen in the above photograph. To preserve the monument, it was systematically dismantled in 1878 and its 2,700 stones carefully stored. In 1880, the stones were bought by Henry Meux (a brewing magnate) and re-constructed at his house – Theobalds House in Hertfordshire. It remained there until 2003.
Image: London Metropolitan Archives, City of London Corporation Photographer unknown (1877)
In 1984, Temple Bar was purchased by the Temple Bar Trust for £1 and it was decided to return it to the City of London. It was carefully re-built in Paternoster Square (adjacent to St. Paul’s Cathedral) and opened in November 2004. I took this photograph in March 2017.
Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
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Cockspur Street, London

Outside the White Star Lines Head Office, at Oceanic House in Cockspur Street, news of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 was a major pre-war story. This evocative photograph of 16-year-old newsboy Ned Parfett captured the moment perfectly. Later, in the First World War, Ned enlisted in the Royal Artillery. He was awarded the Military Medal and was mentioned in dispatches for gallantry several times. Ned’s three brothers also served in WW1 – all returned home after the war except Ned. He was killed on October 29 1918, just two weeks before the Armistice.
Image: Getty Images
In November 2018, Oceanic House has been converted into flats.
Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
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Euston Road, London

The hotel in front of St. Pancras station was designed by George Gilbert Scott and completed in 1876. With 300 bedrooms and expensive fixtures – a grand staircase, rooms with gold leaf walls and a fireplace in every room – it was a risky venture. The hotel also boasted many innovations including concrete floors, revolving doors and hydraulic lifts. The hotel eventually closed in 1935 as it was seen as as outdated and expensive to run. A huge number of staff was required to service the guests.
This photograph was taken in the 1950s when the building was being used as railway offices. British Rail wanted to demolish it, but they were stopped by a campaign led by the Victorian Society. In 1967, the hotel and St. Pancras station were awarded Grade I listed status. The building continued as railway offices until the 1980s when it was closed.
Image: Ernest Wilde
After its time as railway offices, the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel opened in 2011 and occupies a great deal of the original building. The building is now known as St. Pancras Chambers. I took this photograph in March 2019.
Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
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Bank, London

On January 11 1941, a German bomb fell on Bank underground station in the heart of the City of London. The blast travelled through the complex series of tunnels killing people who were sleeping on the platforms and escalators. Others died on the surface. In total it is believed that 51 people were killed. Following the bombing, a temporary bridge was erected over the bomb crater to enable the traffic to flow across this busy junction.
Image: Photographer unknown
The same view in March 2019. The buildings behind the Wellington statue have been completely changed.
Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
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Marble Arch, London

Taken at some point in the 1910s, this photograph shows Marble Arch – a white, marble-faced, triumphal arch constructed in the 19th century. It was designed by John Nash in 1827 and was intended to be the state entrance to Buckingham Palace. It was relocated to its current position (at the junction of Oxford Street and Edgware Road) in 1851. As mentioned in the previous post, it was at the centre of a traffic roundabout until Park Lane was widened in the 1960s. It is still tricky to get to by foot.
Image: Photographer unknown
The trees from the first photograph have grown giving a greener view in October 2019. None of the buildings in Park Lane are now visible.
Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
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Leicester Square, London

A photograph of Leicester Square taken in 1955 by Allan Hailstone. Crowds are flocking to see ‘Deep In My Heart’, starring Jose Ferrer and Merle Oberon. The Corner Bar is also doing healthy business. The building that housed the Monseigneur News Theatre opened in the 1890’s as a 100-bed hotel (Queen’s). The hotel’s lobby was converted into a 350-seat newsreel theatre in 1936. It was part of the ‘Monseigneur’ chain of theatres.
Image: Allan Hailstone
Newsreel production ceased in the late 1950s and the theatre was taken over by Jacey Cinemas. It screened cartoons until the early 1970s when it started to show ‘adult’ films. It closed in 1978 and in 1983 became a restaurant and casino. However, the 1890s façade remains. I took this photograph in January 2019.
Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
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Sloane Square, London

Peter Jones was the son of a Welsh hat manufacturer who moved to London and opened a shop in Marylebone Lane. He moved the business to its current location (4-6 King’s Road) in 1877. Over the years, the business flourished as did the premises – expanding to cover most of the block. The store is occupied on a 999-year lease from the Cadogan estate. The lease costs £6,000 per year, and the figure has never been increased.
Following the death of Peter Jones, the store was bought by John Lewis in 1914. It then became part of the John Lewis partnership.
This building (see above and below) was constructed between 1932 and 1936 and was the first building in the country to incorporate a glass curtain wall. The building in now Grade II listed.  
Image: Photographer unknown (1930s)
The store was refurbished in 2004 and this photograph was taken in June 2018.
Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
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Trafalgar Square, London

This photograph of Trafalgar Square was taken in May 1950. It shows St Martins-in-the-Field in the background and a car parked outside Canada House. South Africa House is on the right of the photograph – behind two of the Square’s lions. The photographer was standing at the end of Cockspur Street.
Image: DianP’s father
In January 2019 the traffic management system in Trafalgar Square had completely changed and, (as in common with lots of these comparison photographs) the trees have grown.
Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
A merged version of the two photographs. Use the slider in the centre.