I have been asked, in 2014, what Packhorse Road looked like before the new Tesco opened.  It turns out not to be very easy to illustrate because it depends on what photos I took a long time ago. Let us start with the east side where Tesco is now.

On the left the top picture shows the east parapet.  The wall was handsome if you admire neat brickwork but it was the view over the top into the railway cutting with its unkempt sides teaming with plants and unseen wildlife that was attractive - if you were tall enough to see over the top! 
By this date, there was much Tesco site work going on but out of sight over the parapet.  Most of the attractive plants and wildlife had already gone.
The road was wide enough for even heavy vehicles, although the pavements were not generously proportioned.

On the right are three views of the handsome parapet.  At the top, a short stretch of the wall, then details of the bricklaying and the huge coping stone and lastly the construction detail that was revealed when the wall was breached.

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The photo of the west side was taken after Tesco building work began, but most of it was still in position.  The wooden fence is new and the little buildings used for small shops, but originally built for coal merchants, have gone.

There is no new building on the west side, but the changes are just as important.  Again, the road is much wider which means that the new parapet is much further from the centre of the road than the old one was.  It curves away to the station on the right less sharply.  The traffic lights and traffic islands are all new and are much disliked by most of the local population.

Unlike the old wall, details of which are shown above, this new wall consists of reinforced concrete with a brick cladding, more for appearance than structural strength.

I do hope you found this digression into the past interesting.  You can return to the Packhorse Road East page here.

Photos © Guy Gorton
guy.gorton@btinternet.com