We move back to Portway after taking a look at Warminster Hospital in last week's Then and Now.

Our view this week is along the Portway from the junction of The Close and The Avenue.

Portway, or Newport Way as it was once called, may have been an ancient trackway leading up Elm Hill and over the Downs to Bratton Castle.

Portway House is behind the fine iron gates. This grand house was used in the start of the Second World War as a workshop where ladies would make items for the troops and by 1941 12,273 articles had been despatched.

Portway House was bought by the town's Urban District Council in 1955, moving from their premises in Market Street.

Records tell us that the ground floor wing was converted into an area suitable for a new public library, the initial cost borne by Commander Robinson.

This was probably the last occasion in the town where a donation from a private individual was used on council property.

In 1958 the County Library moved from an old secondary school building in the Close to the west wing at Portway House.

The cellars of Portway House were equipped as a strategic point in the aftermath of a nuclear attack.

In 1978, when the UDC was disbanded, Portway House was sold to builders R Butcher and Son.

Our today picture clearly shows the town's fire station.

The old fire station in The Close had become inadequate for the town's brigade .

With a new larger fire appliance, the narrow access to the fire station in The Close was difficult for the fire crews and a new station was built in Portway in 1966.