Commercial Road, Bournemouth.
Bournemouth’s Commercial Road.
A late afternoon trip to the Post Office was a good reason to take the camera out for a “Blue Hour” trip. Heading towards Commercial Road, Bournemouth, a young man, wrapped in plenty of warm clothing, asked if I had any change.
I declined the request politely, and started to set up the tripod nearby. “10 seconds at F22”, he called out to me. At first, I thought he was just having a laugh. But, looking at the scene, I felt this seemed reasonable, so dialled in the settings. More out of curiosity, than anything else. This photograph was the result.
I remember Commercial Road, Bournemouth, as a busy road – not the pedestrian precint it is today. The shops this side of town were closed on Wednesday afternoons – those on the other side (Old Christchurch Road) were closed Saturday afternoons! Hard to imagine, nowadays.
The big blue building used to be Bealesons – a big department store owned by Beales from the other side of town. Originally a drapers store run by a Mr Okey, a friend of JE Beale, who took the business over in 1920. Sadly it closed in 1982, when the fortunes of deparment stores were in decline. It was converted into a number of smaller stores arcade style. Like JJ Allen’s, this store was also on two levels, half a storey apart. In the lower portion, it had an unusual triangular lift, and in the larger part an open-top lift.
Next to the former Bealesons store, nearer the camera on Commercial Road, Bournemouth, is Marks & Spencer. This is probably the only store that is still in existence from my early days in Bournemouth.
Having taken my photograph, I got chatting to the young man who had accosted me previously. He said he thought he was right – he used to be a phtographer, before he fell on hard times. He checked again if I had any cash. I treated him to something from KFC instead.
Photograph Details
- Taken: 25 Jan 2017
- Camera: Canon 5D MkIII
- Lens: Canon EF 24-70mm 1:2.8 L II USM
- Focal Length 24mm
- F/22
- 10 Sec
- ISO 100