Lignières: Then and Now
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Lignières: Then and Now |
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Move mouse over image for contemporary view; move mouse outside
for historical image.
If image doesn't change, click image to toggle between “then”
and “now” views.
The historical photograph is courtesy of M. Louis Chiffelle of Lignières, who kindly contributed images of his post card collection to the archives of the Fondation de l'Hôtel de Commune de Lignières.
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by John Walker May, 2007 |
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Proceeding further down the street and standing with our backs to the church, we look back whence we came and see the former post and telegraph office (Rue du Montilier 9, RACN 010-6456-00046) at the right of the picture. The Café du Commerce (Rue du Montilier 2, RACN 010-6456-00052) is just visible at the left. The building at the end of the street is no longer standing.
Only the very top of the tower of the former post office, so prominent when we viewed the building at our last stop, now peeks out above the roof. Note the racks of insulators on the walls below the roof in the “then” picture; presumably this was where telephone wires from all over converged upon the switchboard. They're gone now, but the mast on the roof is still there. Almost all telephone and electrical cables in Lignières are underground these days, rendering them less vulnerable to the violent thunderstorms of summer.
The “then” photo was clearly taken in the winter, but there's little to go on as to the year. Obviously it's after 1912, as that's when the post office was built. If the demolition of the structure between it and the Café du Commerce was contemporary with the construction of the new fountain (RACN 010-6456-00286, hidden behind the garage in the “now” picture), then it's probably no later than 1918, the date on the fountain.