TAKING A BUTCHER'S AT A BRIGG STREET STEEPED IN HISTORY

Elwes Street, which begins in Brigg town centre and leads to rural and attractive Lincolnshire countryside, has changed beyond recognition over the past half-century.
It is named after the famous local family which owned considerable land and property in the town for several centuries and provided Lords of the Manor.
Elwes Street was known as The Butchery until 1869 when the Local Board (forerunner of the council) decided a change was in order.
The street then offered a mix of residential properties, businesses (including licensed premises) and even a farm -  known as Sumpter's post Second World War. Prior to fridges being commonplace, fresh meat would have been sold in The Butchery in the 19th century.
The original Lord Nelson hostelry was on Elwes Street before relocating to the Market Place.
The Nelson was serving the refreshment needs of Butchery residents in 1826 (21 years after Admiral Horatio lost his life at the Battle of Trafalgar) as was the interestingly-named Hammer-in-Hand. Both pubs could well have been trading 200 years ago.
Today's Paradise Place cul-de-sac has retained its historic name, but buildings occupied during Victorian times have long since been replaced by modern residential properties.
On the other side of Elwes Street, The Bottlings housing development's name reminds us of White's lemonade factory which lost its fizz circa 1970.
That decade also saw the demolition of an estate of post-WW2 prefabs - rented to tenants by Brigg Urban District Council.


 

However, social housing continues to feature on Elwes Street through Ongo's grouped dwellings, close to the Candley Beck bridge (seen below) which forms the boundary with Cadney Road where the attractive avenue of mature trees begins close to Lyng Place - another historic street name to survive.
 

The extensive workshops and servicing facilities behind Layne's garage (1914-1970) stretched back for a considerable distance alongside Elwes Street.
 

This picture, taken in the 1950s or perhaps the early 1960s, shows long-serving Layne's coach-painter/signwriter Charles Taylor in this part of the company's site. The WW1 Lincolnshire Regiment veteran and WW2 Brigg Home Guard sergeant always went to work by bike and returned home to Hawthorn Avenue at mid-day for his lunch!
These Layne's buildings were opposite today's retail units on the edge of the town centre, including a laundrette, tattoo parlour and hairdresser's.

Winship's motor repair business has been a feature of Elwes Street for some decades. Nearby, are other business ventures.
 

The Millennium Green - bordered by Elwes Street, the Old River Ancholme and the Angel's rear car park - is now managed by Brigg Town Council. 

 It was established as a Year 2000 project - originally being overseen by a committee of volunteer trustees. The town's Holocaust Memorial is sited here, having been designed by a local student; it has been praised in Parliament.
A fairly recent addition to Elwes Street is a CCTV camera keeping an eye on the Green.
 

Nearby is the local Scouts' HQ.  And, on the other side of the entry road to the public car park, stands the Kettle funeral business in a building which earned a civic award for excellence in the 1980s. Kettle was a well-known name in Brigg business circles 100 years ago, providing furniture for many local homes.
Elwes Street housed the Parish Hall community venue which was still in use during the Second World War, but was later replaced by the current Church Hall next to St John's.
Please email scoopfisher@aol.com if you have any memories of Elwes Street you would like to share.
We are particularly keen to receive pictures and information about the prefabs, the 'pop' factory and the Sumpter's Farm buildings which stood where the Green is today.
This is the fourth article in our continuing series about the changing face of Brigg streets. Here are some links to the others, just in case you missed them:
Queen Street...
Glebe Road...
Bridge Street (County Bridge to the A18 junction...
More streets are to be featured over the coming weeks.
The view of Elwes Street at the top of this post was taken a few years ago by Ken Harrison, of Brigg Matters magazine. The other images are Brigg Blog's.