Now there will be a lot of people with fond memories of the Crown on Blackfriars Street.
It was a pub I have always been meaning to go in and finally when I had the time and was in the right place I discovered it had closed.
And before anyone points out that it has been closed a long time, I shall just say “I knew that.”
More recently it was Cillians’s specialising in “Nails, Hair and Beauty.”
All of which makes this picture by John Casey a bit of history.
I think John took the photograph sometime in the 1980s and it comes from a collection he has kindly given me permission to use.
Comparing the scene with today I have to say it is an example of how things can only get better.
The rather ugly modern exterior of the property two doors up has had a makeover which I guess happened when it became The Gentry Grooming Co.
Likewise the two shops in between which sold LPs and wall paper looks a little more elegant as an Interior business but I bet the record shop was fun to visit.
And that is what makes John’s picture so important because we don’t do very recent history well.
A street scene from just twenty or thirty years ago hardly causes a stir and yet some of the most dramatic changes to our urban landscapes have happened very recently.
So I thank John for sharing his collection I will dip into them again and again.
Location; Blackfriars Street, circa 1980s
Picture; Blackfriars Street, circa 1980s from the collection of John Casey
 |
| Blackfriars Street circa 1980 |
And before anyone points out that it has been closed a long time, I shall just say “I knew that.”
More recently it was Cillians’s specialising in “Nails, Hair and Beauty.”
All of which makes this picture by John Casey a bit of history.
I think John took the photograph sometime in the 1980s and it comes from a collection he has kindly given me permission to use.
Comparing the scene with today I have to say it is an example of how things can only get better.
 |
| Blackfriars Street, 2016 |
Likewise the two shops in between which sold LPs and wall paper looks a little more elegant as an Interior business but I bet the record shop was fun to visit.
And that is what makes John’s picture so important because we don’t do very recent history well.
A street scene from just twenty or thirty years ago hardly causes a stir and yet some of the most dramatic changes to our urban landscapes have happened very recently.
So I thank John for sharing his collection I will dip into them again and again.
Location; Blackfriars Street, circa 1980s
Picture; Blackfriars Street, circa 1980s from the collection of John Casey