Weymouth In Old Postcards and Photographs

Aerial View - Ritz and Harbour circa 1954

The exposed steel frame and what remains of The Ritz Theatre are so clearly visible here in the picture to the left.
I, like so many of my contemporaries,can clearly remember standing on the Esplanade, near the Burdon Hotel, during the Easter School holidays, as the roof collapsed.
So many other local landmarks, now disappeared, are visible. The Railway Station with the Goods and Carriage sidings, the Railway Viaduct to Portland. The reclamation of the backwater has just started and you can see the extent of the reed beds, Chipperfields Helter Skelter is visible. The towers of Christchurch and Gloucester St. Churches together with the roof of the Gaumont (now Debenhams) are all to be seen.

The picture to the right was obviously the next shot from the camera. More landmarks are seen. Westham Bridge and the Health Centre, the Library in Westwey Road, the Corporation Depot, St. Joseph's Church, the Tower for the Power Station in Stavordale Road, the Gas Holder, Gas Works and the Sidney Hall.
All that remains today are St. Joseph's Church and Westham Bridge.


Across the Town Bridge we see that North Quay has not yet fallen to the demolition man.