This photo taken in 1959/60 shows features of Weymouth which are long gone.

In the bottom of the picture Portwey Hospital is operating as the town’s Maternity Hospital, and the extensive grounds of Springfield House covers a large area.

The owner Major Devenish had died in 1953 and the grounds were still used once a year for the Holy Trinity Church Summer fete, Devenish having been a great supporter of the church.

The redevelopment of Chapelhay was largely complete but the historic High Street, neglected since the Second World War was soon to be demolished to make way for a car park and eventually the municipal offices, itself now in a derelict state.

The Rec, conveniently near the Town Centre and the Sidney Hall have now gone, as have the gasworks, the power station and the then recently erected gasholder, the former site now occupied by Westwey House.

In the bottom left corner the Weymouth to Portland Railway line had another six years to run as a freight only line. Prominent in the centre is the much missed Sidney Hall roundabout.

One of Cosens’s paddle steamers, probably the Monarch, awaits her penultimate years in service.

The scene along Commercial Road has changed beyond recognition from a largely industrial use (Cosens’s works etc.) to largely residential and retail. The Inner Harbour is sparsely populated with ships, including a motor launch which has sunk and will be later broken up at the harbour authority’s expense.

At the top of the picture is Betts’s timber yard (now the site of Park Street car park ) and the railway viaduct runs across the top left hand corner. Prominent in the Melcombe Regis side are the White Ensign Club, the Gaumont Cinema and the twin spired Gloucester Street Congregational church, demolished in 1980.