1930s Pottinger Street

Here's a view of the Pottinger Street steps, leading up from Queen's Road. The picture comes from an old photo post card, probably kept in a tourist's scrapbook as on the back is a pencil note:

This is a street that's all stair

It was a popular view for old postcards, so it must have been one of the tourist sights of the time.

I'm dating it to the 1930s, based on the old-style lamp post at the top of the road. It's certainly pre-war, as by the time Hedda Morrison took this photo in 1946, a new lampost was in place (please let me know if you see anything that narrows down the date):

Here's a recent view of the same area:

It's still a pedestrian-only, stepped street, though these days you're expected to walk up the hill under your own steam. In the days before the mid-levels escalator, anyone who didn't fancy sweating their way up the hill would have ridden in a sedan chair. You can see three of them parked along the left edge of the street.

For more on the history of Pottinger Street, please click here.

Reference: A048