Alcombe

Redevelopment of the Parade started c1870. Lime trees were planted in the 1880s to start the Avenue. The buildings to the left of photograph 31223 had just been built, replacing houses with walled gar- dens. The building in the centre of the row, at the end of Bancks Street, was all that remained of the older buildings. Then a bank, it is now an estate agents. The building protruding at the end of the row, in Wellington Square, is now a bank. Capron’s, the building on the far left, became a well-known garage. It was Minehead’s first garage, established in 1908. Two other garages were established before the First World War but a petrol shortage during the First World War meant horse drawn carriages and bicycles remained popular until the 1920s.
An extract from from"Minehead Town and City Memories".

The architectural style is actually one which is common to areas around the Bristol Channel. The oldest cottages are based on what is known as a ‘cross passage’ design, whereby a passage runs straight from front to back door, dividing the house. In the original cottages there were usually two rooms on the upslope side of the passage and a ‘shippon’ (cow shed) on the downslope side. In medieval times the living quarters would have been heated by a fire in the middle of the floor of the main room with the smoke simply drifting out through the thatch, blackening the roof beams as it went. One house near Church Steps is called the Hearth House, implying it originated from such a cottage. None survive in their original state and all have been enlarged. Most were enlarged upwards, with bedrooms added, their little semi- dormer windows breaking the line of eaves. When this happened, the smoke from the fire had to be diverted, so it was usual to add a tall chimney to the front of the house, with a bulging bread oven at its base. This tended to happen in the 17th century, when the town grew prosperous and chimneys became a status symbol for householders showing off their new wealth.
An extract from from"Minehead Town and City Memories".

A promenade walk had been established along the street in the 1880s, when some of the gardens were removed. Now, the level of the road was raised to prevent flooding of the cottages on the far side. Hence, they are now partly below road level, with a retaining wall in place to buffer them from the floods which still arise from time to time. Most of the doorways are still equipped with slots in which to insert boards when there are flood warnings.
An extract from from"Minehead Town and City Memories".

One of Campbell’s White Funnel fleet, probably the ‘Britannia’, ties up at the pier. The ‘Britannia’ was built in 1896 and was one of the best known and one of the fastest passenger ships of its day. Its full promenade deck and reliability in all weathers made it very popular. It survived use as a Second World War transport and was afterwards refitted with an additional funnel. It was eventually taken out of service in the late 1950s.
An extract from from"Minehead Town and City Memories".

The buses on Quay Street are probably Western National service buses. The double-decker shows an advertisement for Hatcher’s, a department store in Taunton. The Quay became the traditional starting point for bus services from Minehead. The National service started in 1927 and ran to Dunster, Taunton, Bridgwater and Dulverton. It became the Western National following merger with the motor services of the Great Western Railway in 1929. The buses met each train and took passengers on to Lynton and beyond. It gradually bought out most local bus companies, except Blue Motors and Scarlet Pimpernel. The latter specialised in excursions and, between the First World War and the 1960s, up to 44 coaches a day left Minehead with up to 1,400 passengers for trips to the surrounding countryside. The first motor coach to operate from Minehead in 1908 caused much opposition for its intrusiveness. Both Western National and Blue Motors continued to start journeys here long after the pier was removed and the harbour ceased to be used by boat passengers.
An extract from from"Minehead Town and City Memories".