Southampton - Ancient but ever new (From Daily Echo)

Southampton - Ancient but ever new

2:32pm Friday 6th January 2012 in Hampshire Heritage By Keith Hamilton, Shipping & Heritage Reporter

MORE than seven decades ago Southampton was described as being “an ancient town, which is ever new’’.

In the late 1930s, local estate agents, Sydney H Sawbridge and Son of Albion Chambers, in Southampton’s High Street produced a guide which truly belonged to a different era.

The pre-war decade was one of great change for Southampton as the authorities began the huge task of improving the living conditions of many people, especially those whose homes were in and around dockland.

Victorian terraced houses, long considered unsuitable for family life, were being cleared ready for redevelopment, but the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 forced these plans to be postponed.

It was in 1938 that the auctioneers and agents, Sawbridge and Son, which had been established in 1890, produced a publication aimed at tempting people from outside the area to live in Southampton.

The publication is now to be found among the extensive archives belonging to Southampton local historian and book collector Dave Goddard of Nursling.

Many of the names mentioned in the guide, together with different industries, have long disappeared, so the publication gives a fascinating insight to Southampton more than 70 years ago.

“The popular conception of Southampton is that of being one of England’s greatest ports, and the millions who use as such give little thought to the antiquity and romance of the town and the beauties and amenities of its surroundings, which make it both from a business and residential point of view, one of the most desirable towns in the kingdom,’’ said the guide.

“From the business viewpoint the presence of the docks, one of the best equipped in the world, is sufficient to enhance its reputation as a commercial centre, for a port of such magnitude must necessarily attract to it an almost super rail system and general efficiency of trade to meet its requirements.

“In consequence, it is not surprising to find some of the most prosperous industries in the neighbourhood of Southampton – to mention but one, the great shipbuilding and engineering works at Woolston.’’ Many local people will recall the department store of E Mayes and Son, which stood close to the Bargate, and advertised its disparate services in the guide.

The advertisement read: “Bedding re-made and furniture upholstered in our own workshop.

Southampton’s Fashion Rendezvous. Funeral Director.’’ Being a long established, estate agent, Sawbridge and Son, were keen to attract new families to the area.

“Southampton can offer manifold attractions, not only for those whose business lies in the town itself, but for those whose labour is over and who are seeking a place in which to enjoy their retirement,’’ claimed the guide.

“An apt description of this great port would be, ‘An ancient town which is ever new’, for wherever one turns in her streets there is always something of interest, and he is indeed a dull man who can find no charm or romance in the great docks, with their dealings with all the romantic places of the world.

“Of scenic beauty it is hardly necessary to write for do not those mighty liners bring their thousands from across the Atlantic to see and admire those lovely spots which grace this ancient port?

“The suburban side to a seaport town is not always the height of beauty or charm, but at Southampton the suburbs have been laid out to attract the resident, and their communication with the centre of the town by train, tram or bus is all that can be desired, and in addition, each suburb in the matter of schools, churches, and attractive shops is self-contained.’’