Tower Street
This cobbled street ran from Castle Street to Castle Green and The Terraces.
Along the west side was Lions Clothes Shop (main entrance in Castle Street) and the back of Marks and Spencer.
On the east side, Boots the Chemist was on the corner with Castle Street. These premises were built in 1935 and incorporated 21 Tower Street (previously occupied by Sealey Bros, Castle Sweeteries) which included the remains of the King's Hall of the old castle. Next door was No. 19 occupied by Tower Electrical Stores, Electrical Engineers (upper floor occupied by E.C. Barrell, Watch and Clock Maker). Running along the side of these premises was Maryland Court, a narrow road which led to an entrance to the boys' playground of Castle School.
None of the buildings survived the blitz of 24 November 1940.
The Terraces
The Terraces consisted of three rows (Lower, Middle and Upper Terrace) of two-up two-down terraced houses built in the early 1900s, accessed from Castle Street via Tower Street. All houses were similar in design and had no electricity, with water being obtained from an outside tap. There was an outside toilet in a small concrete backyard and no bathroom (weekly visits to nearby Broad Weir Baths were necessary!).
The houses in Middle and Upper Terrace had small gardens at the front. Nos 7-11 Upper Terrace had large cellars (believed to be part of the old castle) accessed via stairs inside the house. These cellars were used for the storage of coal, which was delivered via an exterior chute at the front of the house.
All of the houses were at a high level, overlooking Broad Weir and Lower Castle Street. Residents of those houses near the latter were often kept awake by Monday night meetings held at the Rising Sun public house - they knew the meetings were about to finish when the hymn For Those in Peril on the Sea had been sung!
In November 1940, 4 Upper Terrace was occupied by Mrs Savage, who was the daughter of Granny Keating, the apple-seller often seen in earlier years outside Melhuish's in Peter Street.
All of the houses survived the war, but Lower Terrace was demolished earlier than the others as the backs of the houses (which overlooked Broad Weir) were collapsing. Middle and Upper Terrace (the latter backing on to the girls' playground of Castle School) were not demolished until 1962, they had never been modernised. A tree which existed before the war among the houses still exists in Castle Park today.
The last occupier of The Terraces was Mrs J. Smith, who lived at 11 Upper Terrace and was in her nineties when she left just prior to demolition in 1962.
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