Bob Holman photography

31/08/2026

Fish Bridge as was and now, plus a map showing where it crossed the A361. The shot is looking up Caen Hill, towards Devizes. The railway line connected Devizes to the wider network, running alongside the challenging inclines of the Caen Hill lock flight. The first bridge built across the road featured distinctive curved top and bottom edges, which earned it the local nickname "the Fish Bridge". The initial bridge was eventually replaced by a stronger steel girder version, but the iconic "Fish Bridge" name remained. Passenger and freight traffic declined after rival routes bypassed Devizes' steep gradients, leading to the closure of the branch line in 1966 under British Rail modernisation. The bridge structure was dismantled in the late 1960s. During 1974 and 1975, the old masonry supports and embankments were cut back entirely to clear space for modernising and widening of the A361 dual carriageway.

This is a photography project having recently moved back, to Devizes, after 40 years away (30 years in All Cannings and 10 in Marlborough).

It’s named “Devizes in Monochrome - Then and Now”. It’s my attempt to replicate the same scene from archive photographs of Devizes. Access to these images have been kindly provided by Wiltshire Museum in Long Street, Devizes and photos of framed prints in the Town Hall - access kindly offered by Devizes Town Council).

I’ve tried to find out a bit of information on each scene where I can. Please let me know if you know different? Have you some memories of these times, or maybe stories from your relatives?

If you have old photographs of our lovely town and would like to see if I can replicate the same composition and post it on social medias, then please do get in touch via this page, or email me on [email protected]

27/08/2026

Prison Bridge, a view of Bath Road looking north-east towards Devizes centre, with The Black Horse pub in the centre foreground. This photo was shot in the late 19th century. Prison Bridge (Bridge 142 on the Kennet and Avon canal) gets its name from the large 19th century Devizes County House of Correction that once stood next to it - just to the right of this image. The bridge, a grade 11 listed ‘building’, was built with two arches - one for the canal water and towpath, and an older second arch that accommodated a horse-drawn industrial rail track used to move local bricks, probably from the brickworks at the bottom of the flight of locks, close by to where Jones Motor Spares is currently located. The brickwork on the bridge has metal guards and still shows wear marks from the towing ropes used by horses pulling heavy barges through the channel.

This is a photography project having recently moved back, to Devizes, after 40 years away (30 years in All Cannings and 10 in Marlborough).

It’s named “Devizes in Monochrome - Then and Now”. It’s my attempt to replicate the same scene from archive photographs of Devizes. Access to these images have been kindly provided by Wiltshire Museum in Long Street, Devizes and photos of framed prints in the Town Hall - access kindly offered by Devizes Town Council.

I’ve tried to find out a bit of information on each scene where I can. Please let me know if you know different? Have you some memories of these times, or maybe stories from your relatives?

If you have old photographs of our lovely town and would like to see if I can replicate the same composition and post it on social medias, then please do get in touch via this page, or email me on [email protected]

24/08/2026

New Park Street. The Castle Hotel and Regal Cinema with St Mary's Church in the background. The Regal Cinema was opened in 1939 and was built for and operated by A. Austin Pilkington, who also operated the Palace Cinema in the market place. It had an attractive brick facade in an Art Deco style. Inside the auditorium, the proscenium was 36 feet wide. It was closed in 1959 after being taken over by the Vale Cinemas chain and the front of the building was removed and altered to operate a garage, later run by Wadham Stringer. As a side note, the 'X' rating was given to the film Baby Doll because of the film's highly suggestive themes, sexual frustration, and scandalous marketing - such as promotional material showing a 19-year-old Carroll Baker lying in a crib. It was even condemned by the Catholic Church's Legion of Decency on release, though it received four Academy Award nominations.

This is a photography project having recently moved back, to Devizes, after 40 years away (30 years in All Cannings and 10 in Marlborough).

It’s named “Devizes in Monochrome - Then and Now”. It’s my attempt to replicate the same scene from archive photographs of Devizes. Access to these images have been kindly provided by Wiltshire Museum in Long Street, Devizes and photos of framed prints in the Town Hall - access kindly offered by Devizes Town Council).

I’ve tried to find out a bit of information on each scene where I can. Please let me know if you know different? Have you some memories of these times, or maybe stories from your relatives?

If you have old photographs of our lovely town and would like to see if I can replicate the same composition and post it on social medias, then please do get in touch via this page, or email me on [email protected]

20/08/2026

The Brittox, Devizes, this was shot (and wonderfully staged) sometime in the Edwardian era. It includes part of Maryport Street in the background.

I can make out the following shop signs L-R:
Strongs (I think, it’s a bit indistinct)- Teas and Confectionary,
Percy Willis - Fancy Goods and Earthenware dealer,
K. Chivers - (did it became Robert KempRobert Kemp & Son at 31 The Brittox? He also had a high end business on three floors which sold custom tailored garments as well as school uniform for both boys and girls.)
J. Willis - known for selling toys, china, and fancy goods
A Talbot and Son - Maryport Street, Ladies Outfitters and Milliners

This is a photography project having recently moved back, to Devizes, after 40 years away (30 years in All Cannings and 10 in Marlborough).

It’s named “Devizes in Monochrome - Then and Now”. It’s my attempt to replicate the same scene from archive photographs of Devizes. Access to these images have been kindly provided by Wiltshire Museum in Long Street, Devizes and photos of framed prints in the Town Hall - access kindly offered by Devizes Town Council).

I’ve tried to find out a bit of information on each scene where I can. Please let me know if you know different? Have you some memories of these times, or maybe stories from your relatives?

If you have old photographs of our lovely town and would like to see if I can replicate the same composition and post it on social medias, then please do get in touch via this page, or email me on [email protected]

17/08/2026

I’m unable to find a date for this fabulous old shot of The Brittox. However, it must be a considerable time before the early 1970s, as local accounts recall cars still using the road in 1972 and 1973. The Brittox itself is a historic medieval street named, I understand, after the bretesque (a timber defensive structure) that once flanked the main approach to Devizes Castle’s main entrance.

This is a photography project having recently moved back, to Devizes, after 40 years away (30 years in All Cannings and 10 in Marlborough).

It’s named “Devizes in Monochrome - Then and Now”. It’s my attempt to replicate the same scene from archive photographs of Devizes. Access to these images have been kindly provided by Wiltshire Museumseum in Long Street, Devizes and photos of framed prints in the Town Hall - access kindly offered by Devizes Town Councilouncil).

I’ve tried to find out a bit of information on each scene where I can. Please let me know if you know different? Have you some memories of these times, or maybe stories from your relatives?

If you have old photographs of our lovely town and would like to see if I can replicate the same composition and post it on social medias, then please do get in touch via this page, or email me on [email protected]

13/08/2026

The last, and to my mind, the most poignant image, of Sheep Street before the demolition. In the late 1950s, Devizes Borough Council bulldozed Victorian back-to-back cottages and Georgian homes in Sheep Street for a slum clearance and post-war regeneration scheme. The condemned historic buildings were replaced by municipal flats that provided modern amenities, including highly coveted inside toilets. The demolition of Sheep Street, alongside similar clearance in nearby Vales Lane, transformed what residents described as a vibrant, tight-knit community into areas for new apartment blocks. While the council viewed the area as unsanitary slums, local historians and former residents have since looked back fondly on the historic architecture and close neighbourly bonds.

This is a photography project having recently moved back, to Devizes, after 40 years away (30 years in All Cannings and 10 in Marlborough).

It’s named “Devizes in Monochrome - Then and Now”. It’s my attempt to replicate the same scene from archive photographs of Devizes. Access to these images have been kindly provided by Wiltshire Museum in Long Street, Devizes and photos of framed prints in the Town Hall - access kindly offered by Devizes Town Council).

I’ve tried to find out a bit of information on each scene where I can. Please let me know if you know different? Have you some memories of these times, or maybe stories from your relatives?

If you have old photographs of our lovely town and would like to see if I can replicate the same composition and post it on social medias, then please do get in touch via this page, or email me on [email protected]

09/08/2026

Another view of the demolished Sheep Street. In the late 1950s, Devizes Borough Council bulldozed Victorian back-to-back cottages and Georgian homes in Sheep Street for a slum clearance and post-war regeneration scheme. The condemned historic buildings were replaced by municipal flats that provided modern amenities, including highly coveted inside toilets. The demolition of Sheep Street, alongside similar clearance in nearby Vales Lane, transformed what residents described as a vibrant, tight-knit community into areas for new apartment blocks. While the council viewed the area as unsanitary slums, local historians and former residents have since looked back fondly on the historic architecture and close neighbourly bonds.

This is a photography project having recently moved back, to Devizes, after 40 years away (30 years in All Cannings and 10 in Marlborough).

It’s named “Devizes in Monochrome - Then and Now”. It’s my attempt to replicate the same scene from archive photographs of Devizes. Access to these images have been kindly provided by Wiltshire Museum in Long Street, Devizes and photos of framed prints in the Town Hall - access kindly offered by Devizes Town Council).

I’ve tried to find out a bit of information on each scene where I can. Please let me know if you know different? Have you some memories of these times, or maybe stories from your relatives?

If you have old photographs of our lovely town and would like to see if I can replicate the same composition and post it on social medias, then please do get in touch via this page, or email me on [email protected]

06/08/2026

In the late 1950s, Devizes Borough Council bulldozed Victorian back-to-back cottages and Georgian homes in Sheep Street for a slum clearance and post-war regeneration scheme. The condemned historic buildings were replaced by municipal flats that provided modern amenities, including highly coveted inside toilets. The demolition of Sheep Street, alongside similar clearance in nearby Vales Lane, transformed what residents described as a vibrant, tight-knit community into areas for new apartment blocks. While the council viewed the area as unsanitary slums, local historians and former residents have since looked back fondly on the historic architecture and close neighbourly bonds.

This is a photography project having recently moved back, to Devizes, after 40 years away (30 years in All Cannings and 10 in Marlborough).

It’s named “Devizes in Monochrome - Then and Now”. It’s my attempt to replicate the same scene from archive photographs of Devizes. Access to these images have been kindly provided by Wiltshire Museumum in Long Street, Devizes and photos of framed prints in the Town Hall - access kindly offered by Devizes Town Council).

I’ve tried to find out a bit of information on each scene where I can. Please let me know if you know different? Have you some memories of these times, or maybe stories from your relatives?

If you have old photographs of our lovely town and would like to see if I can replicate the same composition and post it on social medias, then please do get in touch via this page, or email me on [email protected]

05/08/2026

I'm not at all certain if this 'Then and Now' shot is in the correct place. I've found this composition to be particularly challenging. So, if anyone can remember this original building in Sheep Street, and let me know where it once stood, I'd be most grateful. In the late 1950s, Devizes Borough Council bulldozed Victorian back-to-back cottages and Georgian homes in Sheep Street for a slum clearance and post-war regeneration scheme. The condemned historic buildings were replaced by municipal flats that provided modern amenities, including highly coveted inside toilets. The demolition of Sheep Street, alongside similar clearance in nearby Vales Lane, transformed what residents described as a vibrant, tight-knit community into areas for new apartment blocks. While the council viewed the area as unsanitary slums, local historians and former residents have since looked back fondly on the historic architecture and close neighbourly bonds.

This is a photography project having recently moved back, to Devizes, after 40 years away (30 years in All Cannings and 10 in Marlborough).

It’s named “Devizes in Monochrome - Then and Now”. It’s my attempt to replicate the same scene from archive photographs of Devizes. Access to these images have been kindly provided by Wiltshire Museum in Long Street, Devizes and photos of framed prints in the Town Hall - access kindly offered by Devizes Town Council)

I’ve tried to find out a bit of information on each scene where I can. Please let me know if you know different? Have you some memories of these times, or maybe stories from your relatives?

If you have old photographs of our lovely town and would like to see if I can replicate the same composition and post it on social medias, then please do get in touch via this page, or email me on [email protected]'m no tt

02/08/2026