LAST week’s Now and Then featured St Julians Methodist Church, Newport.

● I recognise the Now and Then picture as being the Methodist Church on Caerleon Road, with the road leading to St Julians on the right hand side of it.

I moved to Morden Road in the early 1940s and I used to work at Maypole grocers as a delivery boy, so I know the area very well.

The area has stood the test of time, and, apart from the shops opposite the church changing hands over the years, the area still looks much the same as it did when I was a boy. I used to go to Durham Road School, and when I was young I remember that when fuel was short, a local coal merchant used to supply us with ‘nuggets’ for the fire, which was in fact suppressed coal dust, The girl guides used to meet in the church, and I used to attend the local boy scouts. The scout hut was just a bit further up Caerleon Road.

Not much has changed along the road nowadays apart from the busy junction at the top as access to the M4.

Cliff James, Cwmbran

● The Now and Then picture is of St Julians Methodist Church, and on the right hand side of the church is Heather Road which leads to St Julians. On the left is Caerleon Road, which has a pub nearby called TheVictoria.

Also on the road is a supermarket, post office and Harry Wheeler’s greengrocers. I remember a popular shoe shop being there years ago which has now closed. Opposite the shops is Tovey’s funeral directors, situated near Morden Road.

Malbina Reardon, Newport

● The church shown in the Nowand Then picture is St Julians Methodist church situated on the corner of St Julians Avenue to the right, and Caerleon Road to the left. Out of the picture on the far right is Richmond Road. The church opened in 1902 and as the Then picture shows a tram, that dates it to before 1937.

Opposite the church on Caerleon Road are a number of shops including Spar, Wren’s bakery, Martin Davies chemist, Period Furnishings, Blue Stone, Spicy Aroma, St David’s Foundation, Monmouthshire Building Society, Betfred and the Victoria Hotel.

Brian JJ Jeff

● St Julian’s Methodist Church was built in 1902 as ‘A well of salvation for future generations’ to serve the local community and relieve pressure on local meeting halls and Victoria Avenue, Methodist Church, which, sadly, is no longer with us.

The initial mission statement was later supplemented by ‘We are called by God to be a growing united people sharing God’s love with all.’ In 1902 it was a state of the art building, being the first church in Newport with electric light.

The railings were removed during the Second World War to make tanks and guns in a reversal of the Biblical exhortation to ‘beat swords into ploughshares’.

Two changes have been made to the building to make it more accessible. The one was the construction of a disabled ramp.

The other was replacing the solid oak doors with a complete glass entrance to the church to welcome people in.

David Hando, Hartridge, Newport

● The Now and Then picture is St Julian’s Methodist Church, Newport. I have been the organist at St Julian’s Methodist Church for 35 years this October.

My most amusing memory is the rat that came to live in the organ under the pipework about 25 years ago. He was most active during services, but but was quiet during hymns (probably stunned!) and only started running up and down the bellows in the quiet moments (prayers etc). Sadly he had to be removed when he had failed to vacate after a few weeks, I thing the Argus did an article on him.

Last week’s picture Sandra Kear, Newport