THE year this atmospheric view of Tallow Hill, Worcester, was captured on camera is, I'm afraid, not recorded, though the photograph appears to me to have been taken sometime between the First and Second World Wars.

The smoking chimneys of factories and houses point to the fact that the picture dates from long before the arrival of smokeless zones in urban environments and from a time when Worcester still boasted several heavy engineering firms employing many thousands of local men.

The photograph was taken from the former Worcester Workhouse at Hillborough and looks towards the centre of the city. Note the neat, fenced off front gardens of Tallow Hill and the apparent pristine condition of the Victorian terraced houses. At the centre of the scene is the Beehive pub.

As we know, the whole Tallow Hill area is currently undergoing a transformation with road construction and the development of big modern retail units.

I'm sure I am not alone, however, in pondering on the need and very considerable investment in these giant new units when, not a stone's throw away, stand superb Victorian factory and warehouse buildings which are under-used and cry out for restoration. Surely they would be ideal for conversion to retail units, very much as is being proposed for the Vinegar Works site.