Winters Bridge

From Dittopedia

Chickens cross the Portsmouth Road in late Victorian times, some years before the tram lines were laid.

Winters Bridge was named after Richard Window, who traded as a blacksmith in the 1770s. (The forge survived in Thorkhill Road until 1951.) At the time, the River Rythe flowed across the main road—a major inconvenience to his customers. So Window built a plank bridge to prevent their feet getting wet.

Window's Bridge became corrupted into Winters Bridge, and the Rythe has since been culverted beneath the Portsmouth Road.

The muddy tram terminus at Winters Bridge around 1906. The Mason's Arms is on the right, next door to a butcher.

Long Ditton Post Office at Cholmley Terrace, Winters Bridge, traded from the Victorian era until 1st October 1977.

The dairy, Winters Bridge, on the corner of Ferry Road

The Police Station on Ferry Road is just visible on the right in this photo of the Dairy.

The Police Station in Ferry Road

Freshly erected shops in Criterion Buildings at Winters Bridge collapse in 1908, due to the digging of trenches for drains, and bad weather.

The Essex Arms commemorates the de Mandeville Earls of Essex, who were lords of the manor of Ditune in the 12th century. It changed its name to the Ferry Tavern around 1986.

The sweet shop on the corner of Portsmouth Road and Winters Road in the early 1960s