SIR: Your heading ‘Victorian House Doomed’ (Chronicle, Belgarum, February 4) revived memories of the former owners of the property who were A.E Early & Son coal merchants.

I think they had run their business from this property as far back as the 1900s.The coal yard was located in the old Bar End goods yard. The last members of the Early family retired in possibly the 1980s. The stables in the yard at the rear housed the horses that pulled the coal carts round Winchester, in later years the family kept their lorries in the yard. I have personal memories of the property as for many years from the 1960s I had a fruit and vegetable delivery round in Winchester and my first call was to the Earlys before moving onto the Winnall estate.

I can remember the invoice address for the company, A.E. Early & Son, Cheesehill Street (the old spelling).

Trevor Bignell,

Hazel Grove,

Bishop’s Waltham

SIR: The request for information about this beautiful but derelict building caught my eye in last week’s Hampshire Chronicle.

In the 1970s this was a coal merchants yard, run by Mrs Early, a lovely Scots lady. She lived in the house, and we would go and order our coal from the door in side the gates. The coal would be bagged up along the wall on the Chesil Rectory side and there were sheds with the lorries and more coal stored.

It may have been a Corrals outlet, but I can’t remember that. We used to love going to see Mrs Early and ordering our coal with the children in their pram. There was something very .....olde world and pleasant about the place.

Sad to hear it’s going to be demolished.

Margaret Mason,

Water Lane,

Winchester

SIR: I read with interest Belgarum’s article about the property next to the Chesil Theatre in Chesil Street (Chronicle, February 4).

Certainly in the late 1970s/early 80s the property was owned by the local coal merchant A.E. Early. I recall visiting the office there with my mother who would pay her monthly coal bill there. The office contained some beautiful antique furniture. The rear yard, of course, housed the coal heaps and probably stables as I have seen pictures of horse drawn carts owned by the company doing their rounds.

Tim James,

The Pastures,

Kings Worthy