Pitt Street, now a scattering of industry and a quite a few nice trees. The entrance to Gildencroft, an alleged old jousting field now opened up to the corner of St Augustines and the churchyard, breathing some green into the traffic.
Pitt Street once stretched from the corner of Muspole street to St Augustines, truncated by the growth of the Ring Road, Duke street absorbing one end of it up to that new fangled roundabout at St Crispins, with that space age development at Anglia Square.
The road was considerably narrower right up to the late 1960s, two lanes of Austins and Morris’ would fit up it, past the faded Georgian hodge-podge of traders building and mini mansions on this main route North up through St Augustines Gate and out into the county.
The only vestige on this stretch is the old Photomation building next to the not as old Morris Print building and Norwich Framing Centre which appears to be a residual building that may have once formed part of a yard. Then there’s a bit of scrubby bank that used to be shops, then the more or less intact precincts of St Augustines with it’s old courts and yards. the whole of the west side is destined to be redeveloped, It’s admittedly ghastly but so are the various new plans. Time will tell.
Original photos courtesy Jonathan Plunkett, from the fabulous George Plunkett collection.
