Looking down Watkin Street from Corporation Road, Grimsby c1960s.

From the Jeff Beedham Collection.

Note the advertisement for the Paragon Theatre painted on the gable end of 1 Watkin Street. The Paragon Theatre was on the corner of Corporation Road and Ayscough Street. The Paragon Theatre/Cinema/Picture Pavilion opened in 1912 and was destroyed by fire in 1936. It was replaced by the Rex Cinema which opened on the site in 1938.

On the left, at 83 Corporation Road, is Thomas Robert Staines’ butcher’s shop. Thomas was born in the Grimsby area on 15th May 1909. He married Vera Topliss in Grimsby in 1936. In 1939, his butcher’s shop was at 20 Compton Drive, Grimsby. He was an A.R.P. ambulance driver during the war. His shop was certainly at 83 Corporation Road between 1958 and 1970.

Thomas Robert Staines died in 1990. Vera died in 2003.

Note: Just out of view on the right is Clarks of Retford, cleaners.