Many faces of Aldwick have changed with age

The result of this plan was Victoria Drive and the establishment of a post office in Charlwood Street, both of which are still with us today.

Part of this dream was to set up a 'pleasant residential area and a shopping centre for West Bognor'.

In 1896 there were only two shops on the north side of Aldwick Road. The main work began at the start of the 1900s on the north side of Aldwick Road between Charlwood Street and Nyewood Lane.

Early shops consisted of the Thomas Tregear, Nyewood Supply Stores and Mr CJ West's fish and poultry shop.

The first shop built on the south side of Aldwick Road was the dairy and tearooms of Cox's Dairy, on the corner of Park Road.

Mr Edward Cox already had a business in the High Street and opened his Aldwick shop in 1905. In 1909 the Delmonico Tea Rooms were opened, but by 1912 this had become a chemist shop, which was coupled with the Swiss Caf. These two were housed under one roof and known as Le Chalet.

But it was 1910 that development really started in this area, when the land between Aldwick Road and the sea was auctioned off in 58 freehold plots.

The first 13 plots were sold for 100 each, with the beginning of the parade in 1912.

Recently I received a letter from a lady who stated she was rather older than 21 (can't give a lady's age away!) who wrote about the number of trades and shops that she could remember in the past 25 years and this includes two butcher's shops '“ that of Lawrence and the recently-closed Ambler's '“ who are now enjoying their retirement.

During 2004 Ambler's the butcher closed after serving the area for 46 years. When the family opened his shop initially, the area was full of independently-owned shops.

Who can remember Dewdney & Johnson, the various shoes, hat and jewellery shops and dress shops? All these seem to be from another era. This area also supported a number of banks, hairdressers and newsagents.

It was in the 1850s that Bognor Races was the fashionable place to be seen. The racecourse was on a field that was used for many sporting events, including cricket.

The area was from Marine Parade to Nyewood Lane, with another boundary being Aldwick Road. The owner of this land was Dr Alonzo Henry Stocker, from Craigweil House.

Today it is built over, principally by Stocker Road, which occupies the area once occupied by the grandstand.

Between the 1840s and 1850s, during the summer months, horse racing took place on the beach and a racecard still exists providing information on races held on October 9, 1855.

Refreshment tents included the names of the local caterers, one of whom was Charles Pace who was at that time the landlord of the Elephant and Castle in Steyne Street. Another was John Edward Mant of The Wheatsheaf in West Street, which is today The Berkeley.

The race day started at 9.30am with a regatta before the main event of the day. Residents would have much enjoyment in those days.

By the 1920s more developments were taking place.

By the early 1920s much of the rest of the area remained as undeveloped agricultural fields between Bognor and Aldwick.

The area between the two villages then supported grazing cattle, as it had done for generations.

This, however, was soon to change as the Lord of the Manor of Aldwick, William HB Fletcher, started to sell parts of his estate.

In 1927 he sold a 575-acre site, which was part of the Pagham Farm Estate, and this raised 29,000. This sale also included a 100-acre site that today forms the Aldwick Bay Estate.

In 1928 a Bloomsbury development company began the creation of the Bay Estate as we know it today. Captain Allaway, the company owner, described the areas as '˜an outstanding example of land development'.

As you can imagine, with such a large development, there was a wide range of advertising literature available to encourage people to buy these homes.

On offer was '˜The Aldwick Bay Estate which caters definitely for the town dweller who desires a nice type of seaside residence and for the retired wishing to reside in a peaceful neighbourhood, not invaded by trippers and charabanc parties, free from bands, pierott parties and the noise and hustle only too commonly associated with many seaside resorts in this country'.

Each house was elegant, individual and comfortable, combining many '˜labour-saving features'. Many of the homes also included large garages, partial central heating and south-facing verandas.

An interesting fact is when the telephone cables were laid, unlike elsewhere, these went underground, to help maintain the appeal of the area.

To many people, the Bay Estate has always been seen as a place for the rich to live. Over the years many notable people have visited the estate, including film stars, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Jack Hawkins.

Royalty have also been frequent visitors, including the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and of course Earl Spencer, father of Diana, Princess of Wales, who owned two homes on the estate.

The area we know today as Aldwick has had many faces over the years, and no doubt you will be able to tell me of more interesting facts for the future.

According to the 2001 census, the population of the area, including Rose Green, was 10,884 and it will be interesting to see how this grows in the coming years.

In 2008, new shops have opened and the shopping area is looking well used compared with ten years ago.