Pond’s on the right, particularly, has a wealth of clothing open to the elements, all of which had to be put out and taken in each day.

One of Harvey’s shops on the left has its racks of newspapers extending to the first floor windows and a billboard relaying the day’s news.

A bicycle leaning outside may belong to a customer but Harvey’s did sell bicycles at one time, and had two shops on the opposite side as well.

At No 81 on the left are the double-fronted premises of Howard’s the photographers, with portraits in the windows. Charles Howard had opened the shop around 1900 and it was subsequently run by his formidable daughter Edith.

In 1932 she moved across the road to No 74, to the shop run by A B Scott who went down the street to ‘Scott’s corner’ behind the Guildhall.

To complete the picture, Pond’s then opened a second branch in the vacated Howard’s shop as a gents outfitters, a shop that ran in tandem with the larger shop until the mid-1950s.

Curry’s, one of the earlier chain stores to arrive in the town, can be seen here on the junction with Newbury Street and the building had recently been christened Radio House, although Curry’s were better known as cycle agents. Electricity had only recently come to Andover and the wireless was becoming popular as a medium of entertainment, the BBC having been established in 1922. Although Curry’s remained here until 1965, their main branch from 1950 onwards were premises near the bottom of the High street next to George Yard.

Sited between Howard’s and Harvey’s is the less familiar name of Robert Nelson and Co at No 83, a domestic machinery retailer that opened in the late 1890s. Today, that term conjures up images of what are termed ‘white goods’ but in the days before electricity it would mean hand cranked or treadle sewing machines, pump action sweepers, mangles and baby carriages. 

Nelson’s, like the others, also moved premises soon after this photograph was taken, to another site across the road and lower down, where the Double Discount shop is today. However, after 1950 this became successively Murdoch’s, John Ward, and then Youngsters, though the theme of baby equipment was continued by all these proprietors.

In those days most of the town’s shops were privately-owned businesses but they were by no means static as they opened, flourished and closed, often because of family circumstances. Gradually, during the 1920s and 1930s, the chain stores such as Marks and Spencer’s, Woolworth’s, Timothy White’s and Boot’s moved in. It was a new form of competition which saw the end of small shops selling basic goods. Prices may indeed have become keener and there was a greater variety on offer but small town high streets lost some of their character in the process.