A little lock-up in Bridge Street, Usk…
The small town of Usk has several blue plaques placed by the civic society but I hadn’t spotted this one before. Which is strange, as I am in this street at least twice a year when we go wandering in Monmouthshire.
The blue plaque from the civic trust…
This post is, I have to admit, a catchup. I promised in December that I would show you Bridge Street in Usk, just around the corner from the red River Usk in full flow… so here it is.
In case you can’t read it in the picture, the blue plaque, put up in 2005, says this building was the house of correction or “Old Bridewell” between about 1642 and 1842. It was Usk’s third gaol/jail before Usk Prison took over.
The earlier two lock-ups were the Garrison Tower in the nearby castle and then another further along Bridge Street, in what is now called Gordon House, which I haven’t yet found.
The lock-up viewed through the gate…
These little local police cells were called bridewells after a palace at Bridewell (St Bride’s Well), near Fleet Street in London. The palace was originally a residence for Henry VIII, then a poorhouse and from 1556 a prison. It was demolished in 1863-1864.
I suspect many of my poor ancestors spent time in this sort of place. Because they were poor and feckless, not particularly villainous.
Then there’s the rest of Bridge Street…
Red-brick building on the corner…
I’m not sure why this building in Usk bears the Cardiff coat of arms…
Old furniture showrooms…
Little shops…
The Inn Between…
The Cross Keys…
Harper’s of Usk…
This was the window of Harper’s of Usk before Christmas…
…and I loved these wintery deer on a vase…
The end of the road, Bridge Street, Usk…
At the end on the left is the Three Salmons Hotel, which does a lovely lunch!
And just off Bridge Street, through an arch to the car park and public toilets, is the entrance to an excellent little Spar store. It is only small but seems to pack in a lot of groceries and fresh fare. It is the only place where I have seen a sack of rough “horse” carrots for sale! I so wish I had taken a picture of that, but I had my purse in my hand at the time, not my camera…
The Squirrelbasket 
I think I’ll follow suit, choose a coat of arms and stick it on the outside of my house. I’ll find one that looks good and belongs to a place I like. Why not? It would be a bit like supporting a football team. (I suppose.)
There may be a law against that? Only joking – but I guess you had better not choose the Queen’s coat of arms, by royal appointment and all that…
Best wishes 🙂
Lovely photos. Darn purse, though! I’ve had a coat with big pockets this winter, so I can slip a small camera into one pocket and my wallet and keys into another and trip through the town taking pictures. I always go back to that purse in the end. I had a really small one for awhile, but then they started growing again.
Before I go on, I had better make sure we are talking the same language! By purse I guess I meant wallet. By purse I think you mean “handbag”? Anyway, to sum up, I had my wallet in my hand to pay for my shopping at the time. As for my handbag, I always have a big one, but I have to rummage to find my camera in it…
If you have managed with a small handbag, you are very lucky. Mine have never been small and growing, always huge! I also envy your big pockets! Best wishes and thanks for commenting 🙂
You’re right: I had forgotten about the purse/wallet discrepancy. Now, I get the picture. Pockets are the cat’s meow, for sure.
Yes, big, deep, square pockets would be good. Maybe I need a painter’s smock when I go out with my camera? I could fill the pockets with acorns and pretty pebbles and shells, too 🙂
The red brick building on the corner of Bridge Street, Usk, has the arms of Cardiff on it because it used to be a pub called The Cardiff Arms.
Ah, that would explain it then!
Thanks for taking the trouble to tell us.
Best wishes 🙂