News

Appeal for information on old-time photo

HISTORICAL images of one of Belfast's oldest streets have been unearthed in England.

The photos, dated from around the 1920s, show North Street in the city centre.

They were sent to The Irish News by an 83-year-old reader who now lives in Yorkshire in the hope some one could shed light on the scenes.

The images show a number of street stalls selling fruit, vegetables and a handful of workers.

A business called Two Ten Tailors can be seen in the background and as well as familiar high street store FW Woolworth Company, also known as Woolworths.

The images also capture North Street Hall which can be seen on what was known as Long Lane, which ran from North Street to Church Lane.

North Street, which was named in 1757, was initially known as Goose Lane - because geese were chased along the street to outlaying fields in Belfast.

According to a 1833 map of Belfast city centre, there was, at one stage, 10 lanes off North Street.

The fact that the working men in the photo are shown wearing collars and flat caps and the middle-class men are wearing bowlers, dates the photo to the mid to late 1920s.

A woman in the photo is also seen wearing a flapper-style hat, walking past Two Ten Tailors.

Where the F.W Woolworth Company is pictured is where the Northern Ireland Tourist Board is based today.

Just out of sight in the photo would have been the well-known Belfast landmark, the Alhambra Theatre,

next to Woolworths.

While there is no evidence of tram lines in the photo, it is not known if trams ran along North Street.

However, the road is cobbled with square setts, which were used to lay roads at that time.

* Do you have any information about the photo or those pictured in it? Contact The Irish News at newsdesk@irishnews.com or call 028 9033 7544.

* TIME GONE BY: One of the historical images showing life in Belfast's North Street around the 1920s. The images were sent to The Irish News by a reader in Yorkshire who is hoping someone can shed some light on the scenes. Below, North Street today