Eleven weeks’ worth of work on the post-war architecture of Walker & Ling, in Weston High Street, has finished this month.
The project is co-managed and part-funded by North Somerset Council and Historic England, as part of the Heritage Action Zone Shopfront Enhancement scheme and Walker & Ling is the first store to be enhanced by the project.
A Walker & Ling spokesman said: “After 11 weeks of dust and rubble, we have the storefront that we dreamed of. Hopefully, it is just like the storefront that grandfather Walker dreamed up in 1952 when the original was designed.
“We hope you like it and we look forward to seeing you all soon.”
Walker and Ling said in June 1942, a 500lb oil bomb burnt most of the north end of the High Street to the ground. Over 10 years, the store was rebuilt and reinstated and the post-war design, officially opened in 1956, featured a mosaic of blue/green tiles, a walk-in vitrine style window, and brass lettering over the doors.
The tiles are still manufactured in Italy by the same company who made them in the 1950s, the terrazzo flooring is made in the style of that time and the brass lettering, lit by the overhead brass lamp, are all reminiscent of the era.
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