Remember when town was shiny and new?

When the roads had no idea what a pothole was, the gardens were too new to have grown weeds and Queen’s Square was still being built.

These pictures all come courtesy of West Sussex Past Pictures and show scenes from around the town during the 1950s.

n Picture number 1 shows a Crawley chemist c1954 – although the shop’s location is unknown.

n Picture number 2 shows a couple jiving at the APV Social Club at Old Jordan’s Farm, in County Oak, c1956.

APV (Aluminium Plant & Vessel Company Limited) was one of the first London firms to bring its workforce to the new town.

The social club is now a Toby Carvery. See also RBP5702 and RBP0610. Roger Bastable Collection.

n Pictures number 3, 4 and 5 were taken c1951 and show a familiar site from the time – families viewing or moving into their new homes.

n Picture number 6 shows vicar Gerald Bridgeman in front of an unfinished house c1957.

Rev Bridgeman was the new vicar of St Mary’s, Southgate.

n Picture number 7 was taken c1955 and shows children playing in an adventure playground in West Green.

The playground was set up in a field next to the Crawley FC football ground.

n Picture number 8 was taken in January 1952 in Barnfield Road, Northgate, and shows children outside a temporary school building.

The building was still around at the turn of the century and was used as a nursery.

In 1954, Northgate county infants and junior schools opened a few yards away.

n Picture number 9 was taken c1956 and shows the building of Queens Square – complete with the road which used to run through it – and the Broadway.