Shopping on West Street
- GVHeritage Groups
- Dec 10, 2024
- 2 min read
by the West Street Heritage Group for Futures Past
As the mines and factories attracted workers the population of Bedminster rose from a few thousand to over 80,000, and the number of shops along West Street multiplied.
The butcher’s shop at Victory House had an on-site slaughterhouse, there was a farrier and a blacksmith.
By 1911, there were over 80 shops and public houses including bakers, butchers, tailors, boot repairers, fish fryers, hairdressers and newsagents.
Horse-drawn carts delivered to the shops and public houses and trams made their appearance: the tramshed stood on what is now McDonald's at the junction of Sheene Road until it was destroyed by a bomb in WW2. Trade thrived until the mines and the nearby factories started to close down and many of the Victorian shopfronts disappeared as the planners and developers moved in to build apartment blocks.
Dot Morgan talking about some of the shops on West Street
Dot Morgan talking about other shops including getting sweet money from the rag and bone yard
Dot Morgan talks about other shops including buying her first bike
Patsy Derrick remembers buying a tea set on West Street
Now in 2024, there are only 46 shops and businesses. The Argus Fish Bar has been established for 95 years (1929-2024), which makes it the longest established continually opened retail business in West Street.
