HEREFORD ON VE DAY (PART TWO)

On 8th May 1945, along with the rest of the country, Hereford celebrated VE Day. THIS POST displayed a few photographs from the day, and here are a few more:

A view from High Town down Commercial Road. The Old House
just visible on the right. Just visible on the left, Edward Pritchard & Sons,
gentleman's outfitter. Pritchard & Sons trade in Hereford to this day, but
are now situated in King Street. A good view of the Odeon (demolished to
 create the Maylord Shopping Precinct) and King & Sons.

From the right - the Odeon, King & Sons, Pritchards, the Wye Cafe, Lawleys, Hiltons, Gurneys.

Another slightly different position - the Odeon, King & Sons, Pritchard & Sons, Wye Cafe,
Lawley's partially obscured on the left. The signs point the way to an Air Raid Shelter for
285 persons, and to "156 General Hospital, US Army".

Gurneys on the right of this photograph as the camera pans left; to Cash & Co Footwear,
Currys "Radio & Cycles" and the City and County Stores.

Now a pivot, showing the other side of High Town and a long shot of High Street.
The Old House is immediately behind us. On the immediate left is Alban House and
Augustus C. Edwards, "The Furriers of the West".
The spire of All Saints Church dominates the skyline. 

High Town later in the day, and the street party in full swing.
In the background, from right, Currys, City & County Stores, the Buttermarket, Lloyds Bank.

And definitely the wrong time to bring a truck into High Town!

These streetscapes show Hereford not only in the "real life" timeline of 1945, but are also representative of the centre of Hereford during the 1938 Hereford VBCW. There would have been little change in seven years, just as there appears to have been little change since 1939 (see THIS POST, with its advert for Gurneys, "the Leading Grocers in High Town") or even 1918 (see THIS POST)