Let us take a look at the section from the William Hardwick to the Upper Bognor Road.

Alongside the William Hardwick was the site of a fire station, built in 1899 as can be seen from the date on the top of the building.

The fire brigade remained there for almost 40 years and the building is now the Lock Centre.

The original fire station had been constructed in 1873 in Waterloo Square.

For a time, these premises in the High Street were used by the Tourist Information Centre and the Red Cross, and much later Global Flowers decorated the area with their displays.

Next door were the offices Chichester University now occupies – a site constructed in 1929 when many changes came about in the town including the building of the Town Hall.

Continuing along this side of the road, there were a couple of terraces constructed, in the 1870s, these being Albert Terrace and Sudley Terrace, built by William Kimber Wonham.

At one time, you could have looked above the shop façades to see the name of Sudley Ter high above the front of the building. This has sadly now been covered over.

On the corner of High Street and Sudley Road for many years was 'a very high class dress shop' known as Coplestone House.

Over the years, I have met many people who can remember this store with its London fashions. One woman told me she had an account with them, but could not afford the dresses that were on sale – the account was a sort of status symbol.

This site has now been renovated and converted into flats and also has a new tenant on the ground floor – an estate agent.

Across the High Street today is the post office. However, the first post office was situated in Lyon Street, in Derby House, which was mentioned in the early guides to Bognor during the 1800s.

This building was demolished in 1939 to make way for a road-widening scheme to create today's Lyon Street.

Adjacent to Derby House, but now forming the boundary of Lyon Street, is the house known as Valhalla.

This house became known as No 2 Russell Place when it was built in the 1820s by Edward Curtis, who advertised it as a lodging house.

When it was bought in 1870, the name was changed to Valhalla and has remained such to this day under the ownership of the same family.

The opposing house of the pair is known as Manora and in 1974 was converted into flats.

When the rear outbuildings were demolished in 1986, the new block of 11 flats was named Russell Place to reflect the original address.

Next we have the interesting flint-fronted building known as Strathmore, which was part of the estate owned by Sir Claude Bowes Lyon and built by Arthur Smith, a Bognor architect, who built many other constructions around the town.

Next there is South View and Ross House, which are thought to have been part of one of the earliest houses in the town.

In a survey of 1786 this area of Bognor shows Ross House as a Georgian farmhouse.

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