THEN & NOW on the Outer Circle – stage 4
Beyond the railway we will meet the Stratford Road – the A34. Up until the 1960s Cole Bank Road met the Stratford Road about 40 yards further north than it does now. This meant that an Outer Circle bus travelling anticlockwise had to turn right onto the Stratford Road and then left into School Road. Sometime before 1966 the junction was “straightened out” to become a traffic light controlled cross road.
On the left (north) side of Cole bank Road at the corner was a large detached house called The Crossways. This is still there, but it is now offices. On the opposite (right hand) corner before the realignment was a café, that has now gone.
In the 1950s & 60s, at the junction with School Road was a showroom for ATCO motor mowers. I can remember bus passengers calling this junction “The ATCO” for many years just before and after the Second World War.
Prior to the ATCO showroom being there, the building on the corner was Cole Bank School that opened in 1791. The site on this corner is now occupied by “Kwik-Fit Tyres”. Next door stands The Horseshoe pub, previously known as The Horse Shoes.
Beyond the railway we will meet the Stratford Road – the A34. Up until the 1960s Cole Bank Road met the Stratford Road about 40 yards further north than it does now. This meant that an Outer Circle bus travelling anticlockwise had to turn right onto the Stratford Road and then left into School Road. Sometime before 1966 the junction was “straightened out” to become a traffic light controlled cross road.
On the left (north) side of Cole bank Road at the corner was a large detached house called The Crossways. This is still there, but it is now offices. On the opposite (right hand) corner before the realignment was a café, that has now gone.
In the 1950s & 60s, at the junction with School Road was a showroom for ATCO motor mowers. I can remember bus passengers calling this junction “The ATCO” for many years just before and after the Second World War.
Prior to the ATCO showroom being there, the building on the corner was Cole Bank School that opened in 1791. The site on this corner is now occupied by “Kwik-Fit Tyres”. Next door stands The Horseshoe pub, previously known as The Horse Shoes.
The junction of Cole Bank Road and the Stratford Road in the 1950s, prior to the realignment
This is a 2019 photograph of the buildings opposite the pre 1960s junction between Cole Bank Road and the Stratford Road.
1950 map of the junction between the Outer Circle and the Stratford Road, before the realignment
“The Crossways” house at the junction of Cole Bank Road and the Stratford Road in 2016
The cafe on the south side of the junction between Cole Bank Road and the Stratford Road before the 1960s realignment
Cole Bank School at the junction of School Road and the Stratford Road – c1900
An old BCT bus (no 1384) being used for driver training in the 1960s at the junction of School Road and the Stratford Road
The Horse Shoes Hotel c1900
The Horse Shoes Hotel c1920
A Midland Red Coach dropping off passengers outside The Horse Shoes in the 1950s
The Horseshoe in 2018
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