Page under construction ----- A Journey Through Redhill Past ----- Page under construction
STATION ROAD (east)
From Redhill Railway Station to The Town Centre
 
The Station and the Railway    
Picture as it is today 2 3
The east side of Redhill is today approached from Redstone Hill where access is gained under the railway station to Station Road and the town. It used to look like this, with a single track low tunnel forming the access way. Because it was narrow and approached from a steep hill it was known locally as 'the death trap'. Around 1901 it was decided to widen it and work began with the left bank being moved back and new walls built.
     
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Then a new bridge was built with the old tunnel still inside it. And the old tunnel was demolished The new bridge as it looked from the station Road side when finished in 1902. Redhill station's entrance was on the Redstone Hill side then.
     
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A view down Station Road from the centre of the town to the new bridge in 1911

 The original station entrance was off Redstone Hill and not off station Road. This picture from c1920
     
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A Church Lads Brigade parade of 1912 drawn up in the original station entrance Engines at Redhill Station in the first decade of the 1900s
9a A London, Brighton and South Coast steam engine in Redhill Station in 1924. The building visible in the distance between the front of the engine and the shed is the Home Cottage pub in Cavendish Road.
     
The first electric train came into Redhill station as part of the testing programme in March 1932 before the electrification work was finished, and so was not in passenger service. Very few people witnessed it, as it was not advertised. Aboard were experts testing and evaluating the new system and the new electric motors fitted to the train. It got to Redhill from Victoria in 25 minutes and was one of several such trains to pass through Redhill. The passenger carying electric service began in July 1932.10 & 11
   
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Engines often had to be turned around at Redhill. Here's the turntable in action in 1958 Steam and electric trains in Redhill station in 1959 and 1961 respectfully
     
Station Approach The name Station Approach may have been applied to the old access way in picture 8 above but when the new access was made it was applied to the area of frontage that also contained some businesses.
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Although there was originally no station entrance on the town side of the bridge there was a taxi cab stand there. This young man poses as the main objective of the photographer but in the background can be seen the shelter and a horse drawn cab waiting. In this late 1960s or early 1970s picture Station Approach is on the right. An entrance to the south side of the station was built on the town side of the railway in 1934. Horse-drawn cabs were gradually replaced by motor vehicles, with Patterson's Taxis being the main firm in the 1940s and 50s.
     
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Barrett Motors at no.1 Station Approach c1972 A 1973 ad for no.5 Station Approach Another view of the 1934 station entrance with a slam-door train standing at the platform
(picture Bob Sargent)
     
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The old station was replaced in the 1990s by the present structure.    
     
Floods    
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The area around the railway station was liable to flooding in severe weather before the drainage was improved. The hoarding and building, pictured in 1935, are where the Odeon Cinema was built in 1938 In 1965 and the road still flooded at this point. In this picture the entrance to the Odeon Cinema (set back from the road and out of view on the right) has replaced the hoardings seen in the previous picture Floods in 1968. The station is on the left and cars are coming under the bridge and braving the deep water to come into the town.
     
The Odeon Cinema    
The plans for the Odeon were passed in Council in June of 1936 and the cinema was built in on waste ground between the railway and Gurney's Brook, opening its doors for the first time in May 1938. Its roof was painted in camouflage colours during the war but still got an enemy cannon shell through it that was probably intended for the railway station. It differed from most of the other cinemas in the respect that it held a youngsters' Saturday morning film club for many years. In the early 1960s it added fairly popular bingo sessions on Sunday afternoons. It closed in October 1975, and was converted to a nightclub and opened as Busby's in 1976. It subsequently was revamped and renamed Millionaire's in the 1980s and became The British Embassy in 1996. 23 24
  The Odeon Cinema under construction in 1937 behind the building (a coffee shop) shown next to the hoardings seen in picture 18 above. In the bottom right corner of the picture the railings and wall of the Redhill Brook can be seen. The opening of the Odeon Cinema in May 1938. The builders were Robert McAlpine & Son.
The first film shown followed the opening ceremony and starred Edmund Lowe in 'The Squeaker'
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Dignitaries at the opening ceremony included The Mayor of Reigate, Alderman H.J.Hamblen, and his wife, the assistant General Manager of Odeon Theatres, Mr Harry Yorke, and the resident manager. Mr Rogenhagen. Notice the two page boys. The Odeon seen from the west in the 1980s, the car park being part of the old Market Field. Children being evacuated from Redhill in the 1940s. The buses are pulled up on the Odeon forecourt
     
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An appearance of celebrities on the steps of the Odeon cinema just after WW2. The Film was ‘Frieda’; a melodramatic thriller. The cast included Mai Zetterling, David Farrar, Glynis Johns, Flora Robson, Albert Lieven, Barbara Everest and Gladys Henson. The story takes place in England with World War II hostilities just over.

(Picture courtesy Peter Pringle)

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Cubs in 1977 in the car park alongside the Odeon Cinema, the picture being taken across the Redhill Brook from the Odeon's upper steps. People in the photo – Sir Malcolm Campbell is in the striped suit. On the back of this photo it states that the mayor is present. Two men could qualify for mayor – Mr Arthur Windsor Spice, who held office 1942-46, and who is standing at Sir Malcolm Cambell’s right shoulder, and Mr Walter Lorkin, who is centre rear in glasses and who was Mayor 1946-49. As neither is wearing mayoral insignia it is difficult to say which is being referred to. Mr Windsor Spice is the more prominent but the date of the film’s release is given as 1947 which was in Mr Lorkin’s time. Also referred to is Albert Lieven, pictured left and one of the cast of the film. Which one is he in the photo is difficult to say as there are three possibles.  He is; perhaps the bearded man on the same step as Sir Malcolm, perhaps the man in profile behind him, or the immaculate man in the light suit to the right. Walter Pringle is looking out from behind the lady with the flowers.  Note how many of the people in the picture are holding a cigarette. People top right are probably in a queue waiting to go in for the next performance and wondering what was going on.
     
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A 1938 programme for the Odeon when there were two main films during the week each with a 'B' film. 'Dead End' starred Humphrey Bogart as a hoodlum who returns to his old neighborhood and is idolized by the local youths - the Dead End Kids in their film debut. Another programme in September 1941. 'Moon Over Burma' was on for six days and the following programme started on the Friday. When the '49th Parallel' was showing in December 1941 there was a separate programme for Sunday. The news was shown three times during the day.
     
The Bus Station  
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The recently constructed bus station in 1986. The office building in the background was that of the Surrey Mirror, which was built in 1972 and demolished in 1987. In the far background St Anne's still dominates the skyline. The demolished Surrey Mirror building was replaced by Quadrant House, probably the ugliest building in the town. Although built 1987/8 it stood empty until 1993 when two floors were occupied by Scottish Mutual Insurance and Computer People. Two floors remained vacant for a while.
   
The Arcade
The advertisement for the opening of the Arcade on Thursday June 29th 1939
     
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The Arcade in the 1970s with the fish shop on one side of the entrance and the flower shop on the other. The fish shop was originally built so that with its shutters down it was open to the pavement and its side faced the middle walkway, very cold for those working there in the winter. In the 1970s or 80s the shop was glassed in and customers went inside to buy fish. (Picture Bob Sargent) The arcade was created on the site of the old Cinema Royal, shown above. The films advertised are 'Montmatre' and 'Flame of Love'. A
banner lower down proclaims 'Forbidden
Love' and there is little doubt what kind of film pulled in the crowds. (More about this cinema below)		 The Arcade was left on the end of the row when buildings further east were demolished to make way for the new ring road (Picture Bob Sargent)
     
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The arcade fish shop stopped trading in July 1994. I happened to be passing, saw that the arcade card shop was going to expand into the space and went in to find the fish shop signs being taken down. No-one wanted them so I had the best one and it now hangs in my loft. In 1997/8 the arcade was renovated with new shopfronts that all looked the same. These new frontages could be viewed from the rear and all the old shop names were still visible. Whether this remains the case is not known.
About the Cinema Royal (see picture 40)
The first cinema in the Borough of Reigate was The Cinema Royal, later known as The Picture House. It opened in October 1909, on the site of what later became the arcade in Station Road. Its head was Mr Reg.Thompson of the Electric Picture Place Co., who had similar enterprises in Croydon and Epsom. Nicol's ladies outfitters took advantage of the considerable interest and excitement in the town at the prospect of the first picture being shown by giving away one ticket for each five shillings spent in the shop. The Cinema Royal's main auditorium measured 60 x 29 feet and the balcony 34 x 28 feet, and in this area the premises was licensed to entertain 700 people. It came into the ownership of Mr Arthur Reynolds in 1927 who also took over ownership of the Pavilion in Reigate. He made extensive alterations, creating a much more luxurious cinema. It was scheduled to re-open on Boxing Day renamed as the Cinema Royal but due to one of the worst winters on record the re-opening date was achieved but not all the work had been done because supplies could not be delivered, so it closed again. It then suffered the calamity of being flooded to a depth of two feet when the snows melted and the Redhill Brook overflowed on the evening of the first week of 1928. Its staff, assisted by the staff of the Pavilion ripped up brand new carpets in an effort to save them. The grand re-opening by Mayor Malcolmson was delayed until March 12th 1928. Two months later the cinema was once again closed, this time following a fire. It reopened shortly after. What the cinema had been like before renovation is unknown but afterwards it boasted 'perfect ventilation, luxurious cosiness and courteous attention'. It had a balcony and two 'spacious family boxes'. It also had a new canopy at its front that covered the pavement. Unfortunately fire broke out at the beginning of May and it had to re-close for repairs and redecoration, not re-opening until later in the year. The cinema continued for almost nine more years, before closing for good. The reason for the final closure is unknown but competition was fierce. The Central Hall, built in 1934 had started showing films two day each week and building work on a new cinema, the Odeon, was under way. The canopy of the Picture House still stands in the same place today but the main body of the cinema is now the arcade
 
The South Side of Station Road East
An 1886 view from Redhill Station towards
(what became) the town centre. The church
spire is that of St Matthew's and Station
Road is on the right. The Redhill Brook runs across the foreground with what look like allotments closest to the camera. This is where the Odeon Cinema was built. The ground beyond is the Market Field before shops were built on the south side of Station Road and the north-east end of the High Street.		 A new stone facade was added to the lower
front of nos.4 and 6 Station Road in 1913 as the building's appearance was not thought to have sufficient prestige. These buildings have since been demolished and are now the site of the Abbott pub.		 The stone facade can just be seen above the fence just in front of the red car in this picture of the end of the row of Victorian shops that were demolished in the 1980s
   
Two early 1900s pictures of the south side of Station Road East. In 1897 it was decided to develop the Station Road and High Street frontages of the Market Field.  There were two groups opposed to the change, one wanting the field preserved in its entirety and laid out as pleasure gardens to enhance the centre of the town, the other, perhaps realising that the first option was a lost cause, advocating that the shops be set back and fronted with trees. The first of these factions was one man, Viscount Oxenbridge, who, at a February meeting said that not only would the field become far less suitable for its purpose but that its openness would be lost to the town and the view spoiled.  He argued that new shops would take business away from the existing town traders and that cattle being driven to market would block the streets. Mr S.Brooks, chairman of the meeting, said that local traders would get first choice of plots. A vote was taken and the result was for the development by 170 votes to 78.  Those who wanted the buildings set back were not successful either; the shops were laid out with a service road at their rear as originally intended, purely commercial interests winning the day.  Building started in 1899 and attracted Sainsbury's and Nicol's and others to the new development.  Just behind the horse's heads in the lefthand picture is Cooles Restaurant, which, it is believed, was owned at one time by the Mrs Lambert, the wife of Harrie Lambert who owned Lambert's Bakery in the High Street.
   
The Scotch Wool shop and staff The site of the Cinema Royal became the arcade in 1939. It had no canopy over the pavement when this picture was taken and the possibility is that the canopy that still exists today was put up for the arcade.
   
Rutter Bros. have a sale in progress in this mid-1930s picture of the town centre end of Station Road East is . Next to Rutters is Arthur Wood & Son, the music shop with the Redhill School of Music over it. Sainsbury's is next with Nicol & Sons ladies wear and haberdashery shop on the corner of Station Road and the High Street. Lloyds Bank is on the opposite diagonal corner with the spire of St Matthew's Church visible in the distance. This Station Road furnisher of the 1950s were at no.10
   
The North Side of Station Road East
Whether Station Road, or any other part of Redhill for that matter, was ever this colourful is unlikely. This view looking west is from an early postcard. Looking east from the crossroads in this similarly early view before the days of traffic lights - hence the policeman - we can see the horsedrawn cabs on their official stands outside the market hall. Advertising was clearly as important then as it is now. A 1950s view of the north side of the road with the sattion entrance in the foreground
     
     
     
     
     
Apologies for the appearance of the page below this point. This is the growing end and there is much more material yet to be added. It will improve as I slowly get on with it.
 
Bounds employed school-leavers as apprentice florists. In the 1930s one girl was allowed time off by her head mistress to run over Redhill Common from St John's School to apply and found that she was one of sixty applicants for a single post. She considered herself fortunate to be the one who got the job. She had a good attendance record at school and during the eight years that she worked at Bounds never had any time off other than holidays. She started her three years training at ten shillings a week. In her second year she earnt fifteen shillings a week and in her third year a pound. Hours were 7.30am to 8pm weekdays, 7.30am to 9pm Saturday. She not only worked on the flower side of the business but also was involved in the weighing and packaging of seeds for flowers and vegetables that were advertised in Bounds own catalogue. The seed packets were kept in different labelled drawers. Flowers, tomatoes and many other plants were grown in glass houses behind the shop.
 
CND protest outside the Market Hall in 1961