No queues are good news at Portsmouth landmark building

Now here's a rare sight '“ a post office without an enormous queue and a woman possibly pondering which window to go to, the choice is so great.
By The Newsroom
Published 4th Nov 2016, 06:00 BST
Updated 16th Nov 2016, 15:57 BST
OPEN The General Post Office in Commercial Road, 1978 Picture: Barry CoxOPEN The General Post Office in Commercial Road, 1978 Picture: Barry Cox
OPEN The General Post Office in Commercial Road, 1978 Picture: Barry Cox

t’s 1978 so perhaps each position really was staffed.

Most Portsmouth readers of a certain age will instantly recognise the picture above.

It’s a view inside the then modernised General Post Office which stood on the corner of Commercial Road and Stanhope Road.

SCAFFOLD This street picture is somewhere in Portsmouth, but where? Behind the wooden scaffolding poles held together with rope is a horse-drawn tram. Picture: The Barry Cox CollectionSCAFFOLD This street picture is somewhere in Portsmouth, but where? Behind the wooden scaffolding poles held together with rope is a horse-drawn tram. Picture: The Barry Cox Collection
SCAFFOLD This street picture is somewhere in Portsmouth, but where? Behind the wooden scaffolding poles held together with rope is a horse-drawn tram. Picture: The Barry Cox Collection
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But like so much of the old institutions which, by and large, worked well, its days were numbered in the name of ‘progress’.

For this building had only a short period of life left before the new main post office in Slindon Street opened and this cornerstone of Commercial Road was demolished.

It’s impossible to imagine now, but at one time, before everyone had a phone, 30 telegram boys operated from this office.

Related topics:Portsmouth