The view from historian's workroom.

A detailed drawing of Dunstable crossroads was made by historian and artist Worthington G Smith in November 1885. An expert draughtsman, he had earned his living in London in his younger years by producing architectural drawings for The Builder magazine, so this early-morning picture of Dunstable can be regarded as accurate. It shows stalls being erected on market day, with the Nag’s Head pub on the right. Worthington wrote that he made the picture for his son Edward, born 1863.

The buildings in the centre of the drawing, on the West Street corner of Middle Row, were demolished in 1911 to make the road wider. So the most recognisable feature today is the pointed roof, on the far left, which became the Tilley butcher’s shop, now in a sad state of disrepair. The pub sign on the right of this is for the Rose and Crown, also now demolished and replaced by today’s Taylor estate agent’s office.

Worthington Smith noted on his original drawing that it was a view from his workroom window. This must have been at what is now number 8a High Street North, one of the new serviced apartments just completed by the Harper Luxe company, on the second floor above Penrose estate agents. Its owner, Oliver Harper, kindly allowed Yesteryear to take the colour photo (inset) from the same vantage point, showing today’s crossroads with its diagonal crossing point for pedestrians. The new apartments have replaced what were, for many years, the premises of Gibbards, the corn merchants. Mr Harper has created a private courtyard at the rear using reclaimed building material including kerbstones retrieved from the recent renovation of Church Street.