Portslade in the Past: Norway Street, Portslade

Judy Middleton 2002 (revised 2021)

Norway Street was developed in the 1890s, and in 1904 it was declared a public highway.

Number 1

In the early 1900s, Number 1 was the Great Northern Steam Bakery.

Number 14

Albert George Candy – He lived at 14 Norway Street at least from 1909, but had been born in Wiltshire. The house in Norway Street was called Sedge Hill. According to the 1911 census Candy earned his living as a foreman gas fitter at a local gas firm. But it is interesting to note he was also a Cokeler – that is he belonged to a small, religious sect, popularly known by that name. Albert George Candy died in 1927, leaving the substantial sum of over £600. Mrs Candy continued to occupy the house. (See below for Cokeler Chapel in Norway Street)

Numbers 15 - 19A

This row of modern houses sit on the site of the 1902 -1909 Anglo-French Laundry from 1910 the buildings were taken over by the Albemarle Laundry. In the 1970s a Brook Bond Tea warehouse was sited here.

Laundries – There seems to have been something of a tradition for a laundry in Norway Street. For example, in 1909 it was the splendidly-titled Anglo-French United Laundry Works with the proprietor being Charles Clezeau, while Madame Clezeau resided at 20 Norway Street. By 1914 it had changed to the Albemarle Sanitary Laundry run by H. Kirkby, and he was still there in 1925.

Tandy’s Laundry – Plans for Tandy’s Laundry were approved in 1929; whether or not the design was constructed, plans for a new Tandy’s Laundry were passed in 1931. In November 1931 residents reported a smoke nuisance issuing from Tandy’s Laundry to Portslade Council. But the laundry continued in operation, and in 1935 there were alterations, and additions in 1938.

Number 38A

Christians’ Meeting Room – This was located next to the junction with Franklin Road and before 40 Norway Street. It was there from 1910 and was still present in 1925. The definition ‘Christians’ Meeting Room’ is the same as that used for the Cokelers’ Chapel in Hove. Therefore, it seems likely that there was a Cokelers Chapel at Portslade too because there were well-known Cokeler families at Portslade such as the Greenfields, the Luffs, the Candys and the Attrees.
From the late 1940s until the 1960s this building was the Butterfield Photographic Manufacturing Company. In the 1980s this premises was the P & S Engineering Ltd and by the 2000s the building was used as store for Infinity Foods Co-operative.

Number 39

F. W. Hubert King – He was a professor of music and in 1909 lived at 39 Norway Street.

Number 48

Now a private residence, number 48 was the New Era Fiction Library Supplies depot in the 1950s

Number 53

Ruby Doreen Avey (1927-1995) – She was a popular romantic novelist who wrote under the name of Vicki Page. In August 1990 when the Evening Argus reviewed her latest book, she was described somewhat unkindly as the ‘author from that least romantic place, Portslade’. She was born at Hove on 29 January 1929, and was educated at St Marye’s Convent, Portslade, and at Hove Secretarial College. But she lived most of her life at 53 Norway Street, where she nursed her mother for many years, and had a much-loved cat called Barney. She was also involved with the United Reformed Church in Station Road, Portslade, and was a frequent visitor to Portslade Library. Her hobby was to visit castles and old houses, which she found inspiring and gave her ideas for a new book.

Ruby Avey once worked for the Shirley Press, and drove around in her VW car, popularly known as a ‘Beetle’. She lectured at Sussex University, and she was a tutor in creative writing at Hove Adult Education Centre. She died at The Pines Nursing Home, Furze Hill, Hove, on 22 February 1995 after having suffered a series of strokes. Barney the cat had died a few years previously, and she kept the ashes in a casket; this casket was placed inside her coffin before the service at the Downs Crematorium. The following list is of some of her novels:

Lord of the Watchtower

Arabian Love Story

Love and Nurse Jeni

Nurse in Deep Water

Shadows on the Snow

A Rose by Moonlight

A Handful of Dreams

Wedding in Winter

Winter of the Heart

Bracelet for a Bride

Silken Chord of Love

A Flower that Fades

A Demon called Love

Number 61

Adrian Hope Brunel was born in London in 1890 to Reginald Norman Brunel Harris, a solicitor and Fanny Lucy Adelaide Adey, a drama and elocution teacher. Brunel was educated at Harrow School. After his parents divorce, he moved with his mother to 61 Norway Street, Portslade in the early 1900s. By 1911 they had moved virtually opposite to a larger house called Frankville at 41 Franklin Road. In local street directory listings his mother called herself ‘Madam Adey Brunel’. Adrian’s mother was well known for her poetry recitals at events around Brighton and Hove.
For more information on the life of Adrian Hope Brunel see the page for Franklin Road.

The Ford Family – During the time of the First World War, the Ford family lived in a house in Norway Street with their five children. Apparently, the house was more spacious than their previous abode in Wolseley Road, Portslade. Young Harry Ford gave his family a bad fright while living at Norway Street by falling ill with Spanish flu, which was responsible for so many deaths. Harry was away from home when he became ill, and his mother had to hire a cab to bring him home to his own bed. The cab halted at the level crossing gates at Portslade, and Harry promptly fainted. Mrs Ford clambered down and knocked at the door of the railway cottages for assistance, and a glass of water. Eventually, she got Harry home. But in her efforts to half-carry him upstairs, she strained her back.

Mrs Lucy Ford had a brother, Sidney Chappell, who became a professional soldier, joining the Royal Sussex Regiment in 1903. He saw service in Malta, Crete, Belfast and India. He travelled home from India on leave in 1914 with a fine shawl and a parrot. Unhappily, when his leave came to an end, he did not return to his comrades in India, but was sent to France where he was killed on active service on 14 September 1914.

Portslade Mews

Portslade Mews sits on the site of a former industrial estate, which in the 1970s comprised of Qualtex Electrical Engineers, Southdown Wools Ltd, Lorrel Dresses Ltd and Bellman & Sons Ltd Warehouse., who had a store in Station Road.

Miscellaneous

CVA – In around 1918 the firm CVA purchased some houses in Norway Street as homes for their workers. This firm eventually became Kearny & Trecker.

Phoenix Systems - In March 1993 it was stated that Phoenix Systems had designed some business units in Norway Street to blend in with the surroundings. Thus there was a series of uniform-sized windows in the first floor of the brick-built structure as well as a tiled roof. One unit was rented by Phoenix, another was already let while a third was available to rent at £12,600 a year.

Cannabis Farm – Suspicious neighbours notified the police about the amount of activity going on in and around a house in Norway Street. On 2 July 2021 Police officers, together with members of the Tactical Enforcement Unit, entered the premises. No less than five rooms in the property had been given over to the cultivation of cannabis plants numbering in the region of 150. A 24-year old man is due to appear in court in July charged with enabling the production of a Class B drug. (Argus 6/7/21)

Portslade Planning Approvals

1894 - Mrs Fraser, fifteen houses

1899 - Laundry

1899 - Miss Durrant, two houses

1899 – G. Dudeney, two houses

1900 – Miss Dudeney, four houses

1900 – H. C. Huggett, five houses

1901 – H. C. Huggett, five houses

1902 – E, Gladman, five cottages and one shop

1906 – E. Gladman, twelve houses, warehouse, and one shop

Sources

Josephine Botting. Nice Work (if you can get it) : The Silent Films of Adrian Brunel (2017)

Adrian Brunel (1892–1958) - BFI Screen Online

Brighton Herald

Crawford, E. The Women's Suffrage Movement in Britain and Ireland: A Regional Survey

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Middleton, J. Portslade and Hove Memories (2004)

Mr G. Osborne

Nash, R. Dependant Brethren of Sussex and Surrey (2021)

Portslade UDC Minute Books

Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

19 July 2021

Norway Street, Portslade