Photo of 4 Young Men BARNARD/BEVAN/GRIFFITHS/GREEN families? (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Tuesday, July 16, 2019, 00:33 (1951 days ago) @ macast

tad late now, sorry I've been away too, but as soon as I saw your photo I also wondered if was a group of friends or acquaintances who'd just signed-up for WW1 service.

Re MPG's mention of the 1907 address, the full article talks about new rooms that had been acquired by the YMCA - I wonder if the men in the photo were perhaps lodging there ?.

And yes Northgate Street is near the city's historical centre, next to the Cathedral, and in those days the TWO Railway Stations and important cattle market. As kids c1970 we occasionally drove to the old swimming baths on Barton Street - the same ones these men may well have used - and I looked forward to maybe having to stop at Barton Gates level crossing if a train came out of Eastgate Station - by then the cattle market had moved out to the north-western edge of town, more space and handier for motorways. The current Gloucester station site was built by the Great Western Railway company, but the city was also served by the Midland Railway at Eastgate Station, the two were connected by a 1/4 mile long covered footbridge. Eastgate station closed in the mid 1970s to become an Asda superstore. After the BSE crisis c1990 the once-important and busy cattle market ran-dwon and is now a retail park and Tesco superstore.

This map from 1921 helps illustrate the layout of this busy working city before the developers moved in.
https://maps.nls.uk/view/101453169

Some great old photos and history of the Station area here, which maybe of interest.
https://www.bartonandtredworth.org.uk/content/place/buildings-and-places-general/images...

And also of Northgate Street, I see a Liptons shop was there, I wonder if Lipton Chambers were near/above it ?
https://www.visit-gloucestershire.co.uk/old-gloucester/gloucester-in-the-1950s60s-page37/