BRICKS: Dingles Department Store/Plymouth

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BRICKS

DINGLES DEPARTMENT STORE / PLYMOUTH ICON / LEGEND


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BRICKS


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DIAMOND CLASSICS Published by the Diamond Group Diamond Books Ltd, 100 Stand, London WC2R 0RL, England www.diamond.com First published in Great Britain by Hamish Hamilton 2010 This edition published 2010 1 Copyright 2010 by Mario Picariello All rights reserved The moral right of the author has been asserted Set in 10/13 pt Baskerville Typeset by Mario Picariello Printed in England by Roland Levinski Press, Plymouth Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

978-0-141-19315-1



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DINGLES DEPARTMENT STORE / PLYMOUTH

ICON / LEGEND

Edited by Mario Picariello


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ICON / LEGEND INTRODUCTION

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INTRODUCTION

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Dingles went through a great struggle, staying strong during the Blitz and coming out the other end with a grand store, that combined all their previous department stores into one great big dingles department store on Royal Parade, Plymouth. This book is the third and last of the series celebrating the rise and fall of Dingles and the story of the great journey through time. This is the Dingle department store book, there is also the Dingle family and Dingle architect books part of the set, Bricks, Brains, Tailcoats. Explore the buildings history and the memorial it is to the city of Plymouth. Travel with us from concept to build and opening of this amazing piece of architecture.


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N Dingles secured a prime site from the City Council, close to the spot where the old store had stood


ICON / LEGEND DINGLES RISE FROM THE WAR

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DINGLES FROM THE WAR Under Patrick Abercrombie and J. Paton Watson’s famous Plan for Plymouth, the city centre was completely remodeled and rebuilt during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Dingles secured a prime site from the City Council, close to the spot where the old store has stood, and plans were quickly laid for construction of a modern department store. To assist the executive directors, Jack Dingle and Frank Baker, with the enormous task of financing and organizing a major construction project at the time of strict government controls on building, two new directors were appointed in January 1948. Winston Brimacombe, who had begun his career with Harrods and later became assistant general manager at D. H. Evans, was made assistant managing director. Jeffrey Baker, a senior partner in the company’s firm of accountants, was also made a director and bought additional financial expertise to the business. In the same month that these appointments were made, the company was reconstructed. Staff members were invited to invest in the company and the share capital was increased from £100,000 to £300,000. The clearing of the site began in the autumn of 1949 and the construction of the steel-framed, Portland stone building commenced in November. In January 1950 a new building was opened in Beaumont Road, Plymouth, by St Teresa’s Industries Ltd,


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ICON / LEGEND DINGLES RISE FROM THE WAR

RISE E

a wholly-owned manufacturing subsidiary of Dingles. Bread, confectionary and meat products were made there, for Dingles and other customers, and the building also housed ancillary service workrooms, including those for soft furnishings and shoe repair. Frank Dingle retired as chairman of the company in 1950, and his cousin, Jack Baker, assumed the chairmanship while remaining managing director. Dingle died in May 1951 and did not live to see the completion of the new store, which was opened by Baker and Brimacombe on 1 September. The building was completed eight months ahead of schedule, and it was the first new department store to open in Great Britain

Patrick Abercrombe’s Plan for Plymouth


ICON / LEGEND DINGLES RISE FROM THE WAR

There are curious surreal touches to Dingles, which mark it out from other contemporary buildings in Plymouth since 1938. Designed by John Burnet, Tait & Partners, lead by Thomas Tait, the store was 293 feet long by 127 feet deep, providing 35,000 square feet of sales space on four floors. It had a façade of Portland stone and the interior was designed to maximize opportunities for the display of merchandise. An Edwardian suite was removed from an old mansion at the out skirts of the city during the Blitz, was stored and installed into the new Dingles building as the Board meeting room. The new store was on Armada Way, also fronting on Royal Parade and New George Street. Extending for 35,000 square feet, it comprised four floors plus a small basement amounting to some 135,000 square feet of sales space. They also had an underlease on the second floor of premises in New George Street. The architects were Messrs Sir John Burnett, Tait and Partners, and they ensured that the steelwork was strong enough to take a fifth floor when it was required. On June 24th 1951 a 99-year lease was signed, allowing for an annual rental of £8,750.

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blocks of buildings should be treated as a whole, rather than separate entities The inspiration for the form of Dingles came from pre-War buildings and especially from buildings in Germany by Erich Mendelson whom Tait admired and to whom he had awarded the first prize for the Bexhill Pavillion competition in 1934. But when translated into stonework, they lost the lightness of such precedents and have more in common with Tait’s other style – that of the architecture of ‘mass’ – used for many of his ‘official’ works including the contemporary Colonial Office, Westminster (unbuilt) and offices for George Wimpey in Hammersmith. Thus the arrangement of the tower at Dingles (and Pearl Assurance opposite) is similar to the central block of St. Andrew’s House (1936-39) in Edinburgh. Ultimately, this architecture is based on the Beaux-arts as it translated for the American city office block and it is no co-incidence that Tait and Lorne had worked in America or that Tait’s office manager and brother-in-law, Gordon Farquhar, had worked in the Chicago office of Raymond hood. There are curious surreal touches to Dingles, which mark it out from other contemporary buildings in Plymouth. The shop windows are vast undivided sheets of glass set directly into the stonework with bold bolection moulded frames. The geometrically trimmed evergreen bushes, which marked the stepped roof


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Thomas Tait’s design of Dingles


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ICON / LEGEND DINGLES RISE FROM THE WAR

THE FOUNDATIONS

The builders digging the foundations


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terraces against Royal Parade, are reminiscent of French cubist buildings and gardens of the ‘twenties’. The geometry of the Dingles building is relatively simple when compared to earlier Plymouth buildings (such as The Duke of Cornwall Hotel) and is quite typical of Tait’s modernist architecture. The continual lines that run the length of the building were intended to provide a referential point for the next buildings along each street, fitting in with Patrick Abercrombie’s idea in the 1943 Plan for Plymouth that blocks of buildings should be treated as a whole, rather than separate entities. The design had initially included a basement floor, down escalators and air conditioning, but these had to be abandoned in 1950 in the face on rampant inflation. Nonetheless, the building was constructed horizontally so that new floors could be added at a later date.


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THE STEEL FRAME

The Dingle’s steel framework

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ICON / LEGEND DINGLES RISE FROM THE WAR

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ICON / LEGEND DINGLES RISE FROM THE WAR

SCAFFOLDING

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The building starts to take shape


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ICON / LEGEND DINGLES RISE FROM THE WAR

ROOF WORKS

Workers busy on the roof with the Guildhall in the background

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ICON / LEGEND DINGLES RISE FROM THE WAR

The Dingles Works Department carving the buildings detail


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ICON / LEGEND DINGLES RISE FROM THE WAR

THE INTERIOR


ICON / LEGEND DINGLES RISE FROM THE WAR

The interior beginning to take shape

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ICON / LEGEND DINGLES RISE FROM THE WAR


ICON / LEGEND DINGLES RISE FROM THE WAR

FREDERICK COOK

Cook busy finishing the interior paintings of Dartmoor

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THE FINISHED BUILDING


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On the opening day nearly 40,000 people visited the store with up to 800 of these who camped the night before


ICON / LEGEND THE GRAND OPENING

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THE GRAN OPENING

There are features of the Beaux-arts (or classical features) such as the stone carvings on the Royal Parade elevations and in the shop interior (next to the escalators) by , and the round orb on the fourth storey, visible in New George street. There were also paintings by Fredrick T W Cook who primarily a painter of coastal scenes in oil, watercolour and gouache, and usually found his subjects in Cornwall. He provided a Dartmoor mural and a Looe scene that still exists today in the privacy of the staff ’s stairway. On the opening day nearly 40,000 people visited the store with up to 800 of these who camped the night before. Nylons, groceries and tinned fruits were in the greatest demand as, due to government restrictions, many foodstuffs and luxury goods were still in short supply. As the doors opened, the general public was given a free box of washing power, which had a big significance in its self. The city had just come out of war and used to rationing, a free box of powder was such a luxury. Other shoppers were attracted to the building simply to take a ride on the escalators, the first installed in a West Country shop. Profits increased during the following years.


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The queue at the opening of Dingles


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951 The new Dingles store departments


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ICON / LEGEND THE GRAND OPENING

An in-store record signing event


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A section of the Food Hall department


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ICON / LEGEND THE GRAND OPENING

The record shop


ICON / LEGEND THE GRAND OPENING

Customers enjoying the store and all it brings

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ICON / LEGEND THE GRAND OPENING


ICON / LEGEND THE GRAND OPENING

The toy departments Stingray display

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the Tamar Bridge and a new civic centre in Plymouth would boost trade considerably, he made plans for expansion

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ICON / LEGEND TAKING IT TO ANOTHER LEVEL

TAKING IT TO ANOTHER LEVEL

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Two further acquisitions took place during 1953. On Monday March 9th 1953 they took over Messrs Garratt’s, ladies’ outfitters, upon the retirement of Mr W A Garratt; and on June 18th 1953, they took over Messrs Parker & Smith (Plymouth) Ltd, pianoforte makers and retailers. Thus, by 1954, when the Company was employing some 757 people, the Directors were: Mr John Russell Baker, chairman and joint managing director; Mr John Jeffery Baker, vicechairman and financial director; Mr Winston Brimacombe, joint managing director; Miss Edith Arnott, manageress; Mr Edward Donald Hayman Dingle, manager; Mr John Edmund Gullett, manager; Mr Frank Spencer Scott, secretary; Mr Stanley Albert Vickery, manager. Jeffrey Baker became vice-chairman of Dingles in May 1952, and when Jack Baker died in 1955 he succeeded him as chairman. Winston Brimacombe, who became managing director in October 1954, continued to mastermind trading operations and, convinced that the construction of the Tamar Bridge and a new civic centre in Plymouth would boost trade considerably, he made plans for expansion. Such growth prompted the adoption of public company status in 1954. Later Dingles acquired Pophams’ new store, trading from the

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ICON / LEGEND TAKING IT TO ANOTHER LEVEL

premises under the Dingles name for eighteen months until they were leased to help finance the construction of a fifth floor at the Royal Parade building in 1961. It was in that year the company acquired stores in Falmouth (Cox & Horder) and Newquay (Hawke & Thomas), the first of a group of Dingles stores in Devon and Cornwall, and a central buying office was set up in Plymouth. Meanwhile the ground floor of the parent store was reorganized, improving the food hall and creating extra sales space. Between 1966 and 1969 the group was extended by the acquistion of Criddle & Smith of Truro; John Polglaze of Penzance; B. Thomas of Helston; and Henry Warren & Son and William Badcock & Son of Newton Abbott. Several of these stores were refurbished and extended and, by 1969, when Jeffrey Baker resigned as chairman, the group’s pre-tax profits had increased to £368,115, having risen every year, save one, since 1951. In 1970 a further significant step was taken when E. Dingle & Co amalgamated with Jolly & Son, owners of an old-established store in Bath.


ICON / LEGEND TAKING IT TO ANOTHER LEVEL

The forth floor extension progress

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A Vogue model shoot outside Dingles


ICON / LEGEND THE TAKE OVER

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THE TAKE OVER Winston Brimacombe, who had become chairman on Baker’s retirement, was acutely aware of the problems which would face small stores groups such as Dingles once Britain joined the European Economic Community, and so, in 1971, when Sir Hugh Fraser announced his intention to bid for the business, Brimacombe moved on to become non-executive chairman of the Army & Navy Division and his son, Peter, a director of Dingles since 1966, took his place as managing director with Peter Humphries as chairman. Under House of Fraser, the construction of a sixth storey as Dingles, begun the takeover, was completed in 1975. The Dingles Division, set up that year eventually numbered seventeen stores.


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ICON / LEGEND THE TAKE OVER

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ICON / LEGEND THE TAKE OVER

The New look House of Fraser, Dingles

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Dingles fire of 1988 was the largest seen in Plymouth since the Second World War


ICON / LEGEND THE GREAT FIRE

THE GREAT FIRE

During the 1980s, the Plymouth store trade strongly until, on the evening of 19 December 1988, a small fire broke out on the fourth floor. It caught hold as furniture, bedding and fittings were set alight and the top three floors of the building were quickly engulfed in flames. Around 120 firemen were called in to tackle the blaze and, although no-one was killed, the upper half of the store was reduced to charred shell by morning. Responsibility for starting the fire was claimed by a militant animal rights group, but the culprits were never apprehended. The Dingles fire of 1988 was the largest seen in Plymouth since the Second World War, with damage initially estimated at £13.2 million, but staff refused to accept defeat despite the temporary closure of the entire building. On 19 January 1989, 5,000 people queued up for the opening of Dingles’ fire clearance sale, in temporary premises secured at Estover. The old Habitat premises in Campbell House were purchased as an outlet for furnishings and electrical goods, and the ground and first floors at Royal Parade were finally re-opened, after rigorous structural tests, at the end of March, with customers being permitted on to the second floor in early April. In May, it was announced that a contract worth £12 million had been

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198 awarded to rebuild the gutted floors of the store and House of Fraser made it known that it hoped to launch the complete store in September 1990, 39 years after the building opened after the Blitz.

The greatest fire since the Blitz


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ICON / LEGEND THE GREAT FIRE

Interior fire damage

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ICON / LEGEND THE RISE AGAIN

THE RISE AGAIN The new Dingles building officially opened on the 1 September 1990 by the store manager at the time, Peter Fairweather with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Two firemen abseiled down the front of the building unrolling a banner saying “Dingles is back,� as 2,000 balloons were released, sold in aid of the NSPCC. Also through the day the fire brigade paraded through the city and finished at the newly opened store. The perfect way to celebrate and commemorate the building and its staff after coming through the biggest disaster since the Blitz.


ICON / LEGEND THE RISE AGAIN

The grand opening

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199 Dingles welcome back banner and balloons


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ICON / LEGEND THE RISE AGAIN

The fire fighters parade


ICON / LEGEND THE RISE AGAIN

The new Dingles facia

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ICON / LEGEND DINGLES WILL LIVE ON

time will tell what the fate of this extraordinary, historic, memorial piece of architecture holds


ICON / LEGEND DINGLES WILL LIVE ON

DINGLES WILL LIVE ON Today the building is still standing strong, the exterior remains well kept with little wear and tear that could do with smartening up and the interior has been through many changes as would be expected for a department store of this kind. The original intentions of Thomas Tait are still clear to see, and Dingles remains one of the few 1950s buildings in Plymouth with a post-war reminiscence. In 2008 Dingles facer on the outside of the building was changed to House of Fraser’s logo officially making the final tranission from E. Dingles & Co to House of Fraser’s company. Currently House of Fraser (formerly Dingles) is a 1950s building in Plymouth and one of the only ones that is not been put in for demolition. It is actually in the process of going up for listing and only time will tell what the fate of this extraordinary, historic, memorial piece of architecture holds in the future of Plymouth and it’s people. Mr Edward Dingle would have been proud, and his parents even prouder, to have known that from his small beginning in 1880 the business was eventually worth over £6 million and that despite the efforts to suppress the name, it is still referred to by the older generation, at least, as Dingle’s.

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ICON / LEGEND DINGLES WILL LIVE ON

Dingles, 2010

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Dingles plaque currently in the public staircase


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South West image Bank Images Used The Dingle Collection Page 17-18 DING 3-103 Dingles Store design Page 18 DING 2-104 Dingles Store foundations, Plymouth Page 18 DING 3-134 Dingles Store foundations, Plymouth Page 19-20 DING 3-70 Dingles Store steel frame, Plymouth Page 20 DING 3-32 Dingles Store steel frame, Plymouth Page 21 DING 3-158 Dingles Store steel frame, Plymouth Page 21 DING 3-25 Danger Demolition sign, Plymouth Page 21-22 DING 3-47 Builders at work on the store Page 23-24 DING 3-137 Scaffolding Dingles Store, Plymouth Page 24 DING 3-39 Scaffolding Dingles Store, Plymouth Page 25-26 DING 3-68 Roof works, Dingles Store, Plymouth Page 26 DING 3-42 Scaffolding Dingles Store, Plymouth Page 27-28 DING 3-27 Carving work, Dingles Store, Plymouth Page 28 DING 3-115 Interior work Dingles Store, Plymouth Page 29-30 DING 3-162 Interior work Dingles Store, Plymouth Page 29 DING 3-2 Interior work Dingles Store, Plymouth Page 30 DING 1-111 Dingles Store stairs, Plymouth Page 30 DING 3-64 Dingles Store interior, Plymouth Page 31 DING 1-60 Frederick Cook, Dingles Store, Plymouth Page 31-34 DING 3-61 Finished Dingles Store, Plymouth Page 37-38 DING 4-24 Opening queue, Dingles Store, Plymouth Page 38 DING 1-14 Dingles Store stairs, Plymouth Page 38 DING 1-43 Dingles Store escalator, Plymouth Page 39 DING 1-23 Dingles Store restaurant, Plymouth Page 39 DING 1-51 Dingles Store food hall, Plymouth Page 39-40 DING 1-9 Dingles Store restaurant, Plymouth Page 41-42 DING 1-1 Dingles Store record signing, Plymouth Page 42 DING 1-10 Dingles Store restaurant, Plymouth Page 42 DING 1-44 Dingles Store Furniture Dept, Plymouth Page 42 DING 1-46 Dingles Store food hall, Plymouth Page 43-44 DING 1-44 Dingles Store food hall, Plymouth Page 44 DING 1-13 Dingles Store Record Dept, Plymouth Page 45 DING 1-151 Inside Dingles Store, Plymouth Page 45 DING 1-153 Inside Dingles Store, Royal Parade, Plymouth Page 45-46 DING 1-200 Dingles Store Luggage Dept, Plymouth Page 47-48 DING 1-56 Dingles Store Children’s Dept, Plymouth Page 51-52 DING 3-100 Adding another level Dingles Store, Plymouth Page 52 DING 4-229 Dingles Store Model shoot, Plymouth Page 54 DING 3-5 HOF Dingles Store, Plymouth Page 55 DING 3-204 HOF Dingles Store, Plymouth Page 59-60 DING 3-3 Dingles Store Fire, Plymouth Page 61 DING 3-1 Dingles Store Fire, Plymouth Page 61 DING 3-2 Dingles Store Fire, Plymouth Page 62 DING 3-4 Dingles Store Reparied, Plymouth Page 63 DING 3-9 Dingles Store another opening, Plymouth Page 64 DING 3-8 Dingles Store another opening, Plymouth Page 66 DING 4-6 Dingles Store Fire Parade, Plymouth Page 73 DING 3-53 Dingles Store Plaque, Plymouth


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Sources: 1871 Census, RG10/2121/99/43. 1861 Census, RG09/1526/19/34. 1881 Census, RG11/2200/115/24. 1881 Census, RG11/2196/62/48. Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages, 1st quarter 1885. “Mr Edward Dingle: Death of Head of Well-known Plymouth Firm”, Western Evening Herald, Plymouth, February 27th 1928. “Sir T Baker Dead: Life of Service to Town: Greater Plymouth’s First Mayor”, Western Morning News, Plymouth, December 18 1926 “Dealings start next week in Dingle’s shares” and Prospectus, Western Morning News, Plymouth, June 9th 1954. “Died in month of silver wedding: Mr F H Dingle, of Plymouth”, Western Morning News, Plymouth, July 5th 1950. “Plymouth firm: new ownership”, Western Morning News, Plymouth, March 6th 1953. “Dingles 1951-1976: September to Remember”, Messrs E Dingle & Company, Plymouth, 1976. “Restaurant Take-over by Dingles”, Western Evening Herald, Plymouth, December 3rd 1959. Power, W J J, “Business Houses of Plymouth”, unpublished, February 1982, only available at the Plymouth Local Studies Library. “Dingle’s closing at Bridgwater”, Western Morning News, Plymouth, May 3rd 1963. Legend of Retailing: House of Fraser, Selected Stories Histories, E. Dingle & Co Ltd, Plymouth Plymouth Planned; The Architecture of the plan for Plymouth 1943-1962, Guided tours notes, Jeremy Gould Dingles, http://www.nicebuildings.com/gh/dingles by Graham Hobbins


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Acknowledgments; a big thank you to South West image Bank for their collection of Dingle history, Jeremy Gould, Tanya Griffiths and Graham Hobbins for their wealth of knowledge.


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