One of my final efforts with my Kodak Bantam and 828 film, this is a view of my childhood home town of Grimsby on the cusp of fundamental change. This view from the multi-storey car park in Doughty Street can be replicated today - the late-1960s structure still stands, but one will not find a Class 08 shunting locomotive on pilot duty. The two Mark 1 coaches (one still in maroon livery) were about to be attached to a train - perhaps one that would head down the old East Lincolnshire line that can be seen curving away sharply at the right. That line closed just eight months later, in October 1970, one of the most regrettable of all the Beeching line closures. The train stands over one of the pair of low bridges over Doughty Road. Only single-decker buses could negotiate Doughty Road, but double-deckers have nevertheless come to grief at these bridges down the years, into the Stagecoach era. The industrial landscape beyond was familiar from my 1950s childhood: there is the municipal refuse depot, a contemporary Dennis refuse vehicle is in view. Beyond is one of a pair of gas holders: town gas was set to be replaced by natural gas from the North Sea, which spelt the end of that landmark. The tall chimney was either part of the Hewitts Brewery, which had already closed in 1968 after takeover by Allied Breweries, or else it belonged to the ertswhile Ticklers jam factory. A sawmill appears to be active in the foreground.
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