An early view of North Street, looking south towards the Market Place taken by William Redshaw around 1880 before the advent of the motor car. The muddy state of the road can clearly be seen and the only traffic in sight is a horse drawn cart or cab. 

The views above shows North Street as seen from the Market Place and was taken from a postcard published around 1905. The hanging sign on the left says Townson's Angel Hotel, referring to Mrs Annie Townson who kept it from 1902 until 1916, originally with her husband, a retired army officer, but he died within a few months of taking over.

 A picture postcard by William Redshaw from 1908.

This photograph was taken circa 1910 when traffic consisted mainly of horse drawn carts and cycles and it was perfectly safe to walk in the road. Many of the old buildings have since disappeared, particularly those on the left next to the bank premises, now occupied by Woolworths store. The picture below is a view from circa 1880.

Most of the shops on the right (above) were demolished to make way for the £1½ million Burghley Centre development which opened in 1989. This picture was taken before 1883 when new office premises were built by Wherry & Sons Ltd., wholesale and retail grocers and provision merchants, drapers, boot and shoe dealers, on the garden behind the fence that can be seen beyond their grocery shop with the quaint bow window. These premises closed down on 3rd April 1970 when the firm ended grocery trading after more than 160 years, blaming rising costs for the decision, and 23 people lost their jobs but were offered alternative employment by the firm. The large shop on the right was occupied by John Bellairs Roberts, chemist, but by 1890 the business had been taken over by Edgar Harvey Judge and became known locally as Judge's. See also Edgar Judge.

Two photographs taken by William Redshaw from the same vantage point on the south side of North Street but at different times, the first (above) around 1880 and the second after the old dwelling behind the hay cart had been replaced by his new business premises known as the Redshaw Music Warehouse.

North Street photographed by William Redshaw, circa 1900, showing two public houses, the Old Windmill Inn and the Six Bells, both now closed.

North Street circa 1910, showing a wagon load of faggots moving down the road from Bourne Wood. The cottage with the four dormer windows on the right was demolished to make way for the Tudor Cinema which opened in 1929, together with the shop next door, occupied here by R Kelham, tailors.

A postcard view from 1935 with the first motor cars being parked in the
streets, a sign of things to come.

The stone built cottage used as a barber's shop by J Stephenson was situated between Arnold Pick's forge and the office premises of Wherry and Sons Ltd but was demolished in 1961 to make way for new retail premises which were built on the site, as can be seen in the photograph below taken in 1965. After being occupied by the hardware form of Toulson and Spencer and then B and T Wallpaper, the shop is now occupied by Gordon's Photographic. The buildings on the right, including Wherry's shop premises with the quaint bow window, Tom Jones' antiques shop and Judge's, the chemists, were among those demolished to make way for the entrance to the Burghley Centre which opened in 1989.

Smith's Grocery Stores (above) were one of the oldest firms of grocery and provision dealers in Bourne that was established in 1857 by John Annible Smith and continued trading until December 1998 and during that time it was run entirely by the same family. The shop front and interior remained unchanged during that time with the accent on personal service but the business eventually succumbed to competition from new supermarkets. The cottage with the distinctive dormer windows next door to Smith's at No 23 North Street (below) was built in 1666 and had the initials GIM in a stone plaque on the front. It was split into two small shops that were in business until 1949 when the building was pulled down to make way for the red-brick, flat-topped shop now occupied by Jessie Bellamy, the men's and ladies' outfitters.

The complete absence of motor traffic gives North Street a peaceful air in this photograph taken around 1900. The main buildings in the foreground are relatively unchanged although many of the older properties further down the street have either disappeared or been drastically altered.

North Street looking towards the Market Place, circa 1920 (above) and another view looking northwards from the Market Place and taken in 1930 (below) when
horse-drawn transport was still around.

The photograph above is reproduced from a postcard sent on 6th July 1929 from someone holidaying in Bourne to friends or family living at Bolton in Lancashire. The view is down the street looking north, again almost traffic free and with the distinctive telegraph poles along the pavement on the south side. The cottages on the left next to the bank premises were demolished to make way for the new Woolworths store in 1967.

Two more recent postcard views from circa 1940 (above) and 1950 (below) with the motor car now becoming a familiar part of the street scene.

This photograph of North Street was taken in September 1998 when there was growing dissatisfaction in the town over the state of several historic but empty properties that had become dilapidated and covered with graffiti. One resident described them in a letter to the local newspapers as "hideously unattractive" and likely to deter anyone driving through who might be thinking of stopping awhile.
There was a rumour circulating in the town at that time that the Chinese characters outside the Pizza & Burger House were some sort of threat or curse from a supposed shadowy underground organisation with a grievance and although no one really took this seriously, it soon became an urban myth.