SIMILAR to another ‘then and now’ pair of photographs, recently published in the Review, these two show the end gable of the Old Market Hall, in the centre of Ross-on-Wye.

The older photograph appears to show a policeman, directing traffic while standing in the road outside Burtons, a grocers shop. Opposite was the National and Provincial Bank.

The vintage photograph is a postcard, printed by Lillywhite Ltd, of Brighouse, and is dated 1964 (handwritten on the front) – a fact borne out by the style of cars parked around the Market Square. One, on the far right, is a Morris Traveller, a half-timbered car, which started production in 1953.

The ‘now’ photograph, taken by Review reporter Tim Oakes, shows the square as it is today, with the clutter of street furniture and signs, although the shop fronts, the half timbered black and white buildings and the Market Hall itself remain almost identical.

It was not possible to precisely line up the photograph exactly as the 1964 version – because changes to the road layout would now place the photographer in the middle of the road – and there is rather more traffic now than 51 years ago!