Ross-on-Wye

In 1906 this building was a garage used by Mr. Butcher, who had already established his own garage down in Brookend Street (and who also built his own airplane in 1910), and he joined forces with Mr. Casson, who was on the opposite side of Cantilupe Road, to form Butcher & Casson Ltd. They produced a wide range of hand-built motor vehicles, from cars to various vans to small lorries all built to order by the ten man team. They then exhibited their vehicles and cars in the road for all to see.

The part of the building that is currently "Grow Master Hydroponics" was "Cutters D.I.Y." shop and they had "Cutters Gym" upstairs, it then became a lamp shop run by, I believe, a Ms. Ann Taylor. More recently, in the late 1990's and early 2000's, after the lamp shop closed it was Ray Hill's Television Repair Shop.

The small white shop on the right, currently S&R Taxis has had several uses. In the 1950's it was owned by Gwenny Pepper, who married Mr John Tugwell, and Gwenny Pepper ran it as a sweet shop called Peppers.

Since then it was the Cosey Cafe, which was, as the name suggests, a cafe, a bus shelter, as Cantilupe Road is the bus station in Ross, and now it is the base for S&R Taxis.

On the left of that was the original site of Bill Preece's Vegetable Shop. Prior to that it was Mr. Farmer's Antique Shop. I believe Mr. Farmer lived somewhere in Millpond Street.

This is the front of the Registry Office in Ross, previously, in 1887, it was a Baptist Chapel.

In the 1950's this used to be the Magistrates Court in Ross. The door you see in the middle of the building was the main entrance and at the rear used to be the entrance to the holding cells which were in the small extension on the back. This was where the prisoners were held until they were taken up into the dock to face the judge and returned after sentencing.

In the left of the shot is the site of the library in Ross. This used to be where the Board or Council School was in Ross. It was built in 1874, extended in 1889 and then closed as the Secondary School in 1953 when the John Kyrle High School opened. It then became the towns primary school until it was pulled down in 1969.

The shops on the left of the shot, behind the bus shelter, are a relatively new addition. This used to be a patch of waste ground belonging to Mr. Dekins and there were two big billboards on there advertising various items (I remember them being there in the 1980's). One was just beyond the house in the middle of the shot that is obscured by the tree. Behind that board was the "Red and White" bus company canteen. The other board was further down, by the steps seen in the photo below and right.

The two stone pillars are about all that remains of the Board School as these pillars used to support the fence that fronted the school.

"Ursells of Ross", the memorial masons, are one of the oldest companies in Ross and their works on Cantilupe Road can be traced back to 1885. The name "Ursell" appears in Gazetteers from 1876 indicating that the family has been around for longer.

These are some of the old houses just off Cantilupe Road, that are behind Ursells.

The houses above are built on the site of TC Longfords car repair garage (left) and car hire yard. This was altered in 1996 and Cantilupe Mews were eventaully built on the site.

There used to be a entrance with a parking area at the front then further back was, I think, a corrugated iron workshop.

This is the Wallace Hall Memorial before it was moved, and remodelled, from the junction to its present location at the entrance to Smallbrook Gardens.

The Board School fronted onto Cantilupe Road. After it was deemed unsafe for use and was condemed and a decision was made to demolish it.

The middle section of the school was removed first and then the ends were demolished.

The demolishion of the school in the area of the bridge.

After the school was demolished all that was left was a large amount of rubble. This was then removed in preparation for the redevelopment of the site.

After clearance of the Board School, the site was in use as a car park as seen in these three shots. The car park was entered and exited from Cantilupe Road, which was a two way road at the time.

One particular memory I have is of the puddle in the car park, as seen in the photo below left. This puddle was a permenant feature and seemed to be present even in the middle of summer. Whenever we visted the car park this always seemed to be the only free space and this often resulted in me getting wet feet when getting out the car.