Paignton's Hyde Road: a history of transformation

Hyde Road in the early 20 th Century | Paignton Heritage

placeholder image — Hyde Road in the early 20 th Century | Paignton Heritage

From elegant Victorian townhouses and horse-drawn buses to trams, traditional shops and the much-loved Milk Bar, Hyde Road has witnessed remarkable changes over the decades. Paignton Heritage Society looks back at the people, businesses and buildings that helped shape one of the town’s familiar streets.

Hyde Road Paignton was built between 1888 and 1891. It was funded and named after the Birmingham Solicitor Arthur Hyde Dendy who, after moving to Paignton, made a huge contribution towards the town as we see it now. Designed by architects Hyame and Hogben it comprised on one side, a row of elegant townhouses with a small front garden and a back garden looking on to the area of Victoria Park. Three storied houses with plenty of room for families and possibly in the early days a servant. Hyde road was not supposed to be part of the commercial area of Paignton which was centred around Victoria Street. However as the town expanded shops and businesses began to be seen in Hyde Road and nearby Dendy Road.

In the early days the only traffic to be seen on Hyde Road would have been horse drawn vehicles , including the famous horse drawn bus, and the occasional bicycle. This gave way at the end of the 19th and early 20th century to versions of the earliest motor cars, leading by 1911 to the introduction of the tram. Noisy and uncomfortable trams had quite a short life and were replaced by the Devon General Omnibus in 1934

Gradually shop fronts and sun blinds began to appear, and front gardens disappeared. Businesses trading in Hyde Road over the years were, among others, The Victoria Bakery, Glass craft, Trevor Roberts Grocers and the Teddy Bear shop Some of these were there for many years and may be remembered by older residents.

Adverts for some of the shops in Hyde Road | Paignton Heritage

Opposite the houses on the right as you walk away from the town centre was a large Victorian building. Constructed in 1890 as a private Grammer School, it was converted to the Croft Hotel in 1925. The hotel was finally demolished in the 1963 to make way for the Crossway shopping centre. The shopping centre was in turn demolished to make way for social housing . Currently it is in use as a car park, which will be sadly missed when building work starts shortly. Croft Hotel was not the only building demolished to make way for the shopping centre; others were also lost.

One of the shops that older readers may remember is Skeets, a wool and craft shop. Situated on Hyde Road next to what is now a bridal shop, it sold a huge variety of wools, cottons and embroidery silks. Wool was often bought in skein and had to be wound into balls before it could be used for knitting. Skeets moved to Hyde Road from Dartmouth Road and subsequently moved into the new shopping complex further down the road. On the same side of the road moving towards Victora Street was a pet shop, selling live animals including puppies and kittens , something which thankfully is not allowed today. On the corner of Hyde Road and Dendy Road stood the Milk Bar, very popular in the 50s and 60s with younger people. Now long gone the premises is currently a hairdresser. On the opposite corner a large men’s outfitters traded for a while Not far away was Gladwyns the school outfitter, A trip to Gladwyns at least once a year was a must for children in the 50s and 60s. All the local schools had uniforms and most could only be purchased at Gladwyns. One other shop worth mentioning just past Gladwyns was Tullys tobacconist with its array of fine tobaccos sold from jars together with a splendid choice of pipes it traded in the same spot for many years.

The Milk Bar on the corner of Dendy Road | Paignton Heritage

Returning to the right-hand side of Hyde Road as you leave Victoria Street, today most premises are estate agents and building societies together with a dentist an optician and hairdressers. Most are relative newcomers. When the houses were first converted into shops they were more likely to be confectioners, bakery or possibly a ladies outfitter. Times change and areas must change to cater for the needs of the day. Many people may feel that Hyde Road looked so much nicer when it was first built, perhaps it did but we have to move with the times.

Tram on the junction of Hyde Road and Station Square | Paignton Heritage

Paignton Heritage Society has a vast number of photos of the area, many of which were on show at our open day on 24th October. Attendance was good considering the weather. One of the leaders of our group for 8–13-year-olds was there to chat to prospective members. We hope to expand the activities of the group in the coming year.

Junior Explorer leader Reuben pictured at the open day with Thomas and his pet rat. Thomas welcomes visitors to our archive in Paignton Library. The archive is open to the public Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 11am to 3pm.

Our next meeting on the 19th November will be held in our usual venue Gerston Chapel Torquay Road Paignton Starting at 7pm our speaker will be well known local reporter Guy Henderson. Guy has worked in the newspaper industry for many years and his talk promises to be fascination.

Full details of all the activities of the Society can be found on our website: