IN this edition of nostalgia, we are looking back at King Street in Whitehaven throughout the years.

King Street had started its development before the death of Christopher Lowther in 1644 but was then known as Custom House Street. By the time his son, Sir John Lowther, named the street King Street in 1687, James II was on the throne. By 1700, the street was completely occupied and most of the side furthest from the sea had been for over 15 years.

At street level, many show modern shop-fronts. However, on the next storey many of the shops appear to be built into the base of Georgian town houses and many of the original plots have remained the same size. In some cases, plots have been combined and completely rebuilt to house the larger modern stores.

King Street had pavements down either side and a road down the centre for many years but is now entirely paved and this gave the opportunity to add some street furniture and several works of art. There are pebble mosaics by Maggy Howarth which were inspired by other such mosaics that in the past were found around Whitehaven.

The King George illustrated floating above the mermaid is thought to be the ship John Paul Jones served on as third mate as a young sailor in Whitehaven. It was also the slave ship celebrated by the largest of the enamelled Beilby Goblets, one of the finest pieces of glassware from the 18th century now on show at the Beacon heritage centre.

Another of the mosaics illustrates the Crampton locomotive which was made at the Lowca engineering works just up the coast. 

Another features a fox in front of Whitehaven castle encircled by running hounds.