Time for a bit of local history...

... as part of my Harrogate Now & Then series of blips.

The Harrogate brach of Paperchase occupies a shop which for many years was a Chemist / Pharmacy at 40 James Street, taken c1895.

There have clearly been some changes to the width of the shop front. It is hard to tell from the original photo whether the left hand side of the building was originally part of the shop or not but, in the original, the left hand narrow window and the door occupied the space of the current doorway.

The window on the right is much the same in both photos and, above the windows, there are still some apparently original stained glass decorative features, beautifully preserved. The staff in the shop also told me that, in the basement, there is still a large table which was said to have been used by the chemist to prepare the drugs etc.

It was a bit tricky trying to take today's photo without cars parked in front. On my second attempt, one of the cars was still there and a traffic warden was clearly lurking to book the car for not displaying a relevant paid ticket. I managed to take the shot whilst the warden had wandered off for a moment.

Now it is time for other duties - packing for our holiday which starts with an early flight from Leeds Bradford Airport. Next blip from a new destination tomorrow.