The Portsmouth Mission Hall that became a boys' club after the war
Thanks go to one of Remember When's most avid correspondents, Eddie Wallace, for his help in answering a question I posed earlier this week.
What, I wanted to know, was the long, hall-like building in the picture above? It was taken from the junction of Highland Road and Prince Albert Road, Eastney, Portsmouth.
Eddie recalls it was originally an old Mission Hall and adds: ‘When I returned to the City Police Force after the Second World War I restarted Eastney Boys’ Club in that building with good cooperation from local traders. I persuaded the vicar of St James’s Church to become our chairman and the manager of Lloyd’s Bank, Eastney Road, to be our treasurer.
‘At that time, 1945/46, the road was Prince Albert Street and changed to Prince Albert Road at its junction with Devonshire Avenue.’
Eddie continues: ‘I closed the Boys’ Club in 1949 as the Portsmouth education department opened a boys’ club in Reginald Road School with far better equipment.
‘I transferred to Cosham police station where I became a committee member of the well-known Hillside Boys’ Club.’