AFTER the Second World War, it became a wilderness of weeds as the blitzed bomb sites of Southampton’s London Road waited for a new beginning.

When the post-war redevelopment came the area emerged as a rather anonymous part of Southampton compared to the riches that once stood there in past times.

London Road is part of what is probably the oldest route through the city, from the High Street to the Common and Bassett.

Up until the 1890s, many Southampton residents thought of the lower end of The Avenue, where it joins London Road, as the start of open countryside.

This picture from the 1930s shows London Road as it was before it fell victim to Luftwaffe bombing.