Looking back at the demolition of Cawdells department store in Watford High Street in 1973.
An elderly lady chats to a man wearing a hard hat while two other men stand and watch as workmen and a construction vehicle slowly tear down a shop that remains synonymous with Watford 50 years after these scenes were captured.
As the name of the building at the top of the picture shows, this was Cawdells – a department store that sits alongside the likes of Clements and Trewins as shops that are fondly remembered by many people in the town. It was the summer of 1973 and one of the biggest transformations in the history of Watford was getting underway – Cawdells had to go to make way for Charter Place.
A Watford Observer photographer visited the town centre on a few occasions that summer, first in July when the boards went up around the department store after it had served its final customers, and returning the following month as demolition work got underway.This newspaper has previously featured a snapshot of the history of Cawdells as part of its long-running series featuring pictures from the archive at Watford Museum.
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