Wow, great photos; thanks for posting! I left Brighton in 1990, but I seem to remember that Tesco was in the lower level of Churchill Square, and WH Smiths at the front of the shopping centre, but the second photo suggests otherwise. Is it me goofing, or did the two shops move location at some point? In my humble opinion, after spending a day in Brighton last year, the old Churchill Square was better than it's new version!

Unfortunately we moved from Brighton in 1964 and missing the place to this day, and as an aside, happen now to live near to a field that is the furthest from coastal waters in Britain. My main comment is that I was glad in one way not to be living where I would see the ugly site of Churchill Square which replaced some of the most attractive little streets and houses in the centre of town, such as Clarence Street, Granville Place, part of Russell Street, Cannon Street, Artillery Street and Little Russell Street. Just have a look at the old street maps, torn down to make way for the concrete ugly building. All done in the name of progress.

Tescos was on 2 levels.

Photo 1: The first one is of East Street opposite the entrance to Regent Arcade. ( East Street entrance ) Photo 2: Unmistakeable old Churchill Hill Square. Photo 3: Inside old Regent Arcade looking down towards the East Street entrance. Photo 4: Can't be 100% sure but looks like looking up from East Street entrance.

Great photos. Does anyone remember the awful tower 'statue' at the rear (I think) of Churchill Square? It was just a tall column of concrete and flint or pebbles I think - yuk!

I lived in Blucher Place until 1957 but my grandmother was the last person to move out in 1960. Her house was compulsory purchased by the council; originally they offered £600, but the tribunal agreed £900 compensation. Her name was Edith Taylor, and she can be seen standing by her house on James Gray Collection Vol 29 number 106. The statue referred to was an absolute monstrosity !

Tesco's was on 2 levels, the lower was the main store, however on the upper level they had a 'Home and DIY' section. I think the photo is the side of Churchill Square looking towards the rear. Actually I'm pretty sure, in fact positive, that WHS had 3 entrances; the front, the rear and a small side entrance which I think is the one in the photo. The front and rear entrance were onto the main store, the side entrance was by the stairs that went up to the 'travel agent' part (I think I'm correct), also stairs went down to the small underground record section that was alway incredibly hot.

I remember the TV shop in Regent's Arcade (near East Steet), as although I never went inside I can recall people six deep trying to get a glimpse of the World Cup Final in 1966, through the window. That was an afternoon when you could get some shopping done, as virtually everyone was glued to a television!

In the early 1970s there was a card shop and vegetarian cafe on the lower level of Churchill Square. The cafe had tables and chairs outside during the summer months.

Sorry Peter, but your memory is faulty. The main Tescos store was at ground floor level with the "Home & Wear" section downstairs. I remember this well because I worked as a "Saturday boy" at the store in 1971/2. My job was to collect the used baskets from the tills and return them to the entrance, as well as rounding up trolleys from around Churchill Square, the underground car park etc. On my final Saturday one of the assistant managers told me to make my way along a narrow ledge above the escalator down to Home and Wear, with a cloth and bucket of water, and wash down the wall above the escalator. I refused, since it was a 15 foot drop if I slipped, and I was sacked on the spot. The following Saturday I started working at Sainsburys in London Road (until I was sacked for refusing to get my hair cut). No Health & Safety at Work Act in those days.

I worked at Sainsburys in Churchill Square from 1968. It was brand new and I was in the store two weeks before opening as part of the team filling it up; it was daunting and felt early on as though we were filling an aircraft hangar, it was certainly big enough. We also had to collect trolleys each day but on Saturdays we had to count up and no-one in the management team was allowed home until they were all accounted for! (Why DID we do it?) Considering they had tiny wheels they travelled vast distances. Many a time we found them as far as Norfolk Square and Brighton Station. On one occasion we were phoned from Hurstpierpoint to say they had a JS trolley in the garden! Churchill Square was a windswept grim 'Brutalist' architecture place and no-one was sorry to see it go. How was it considered attractive and allowed to be built, especially as it replaced the lovely Grenville Place?

The 'Health Food' restaurant below at Churchill Square was called 'Slims'. Not sure if it was vegetarian, but certainly a 'health food restaurant' ahead of its time really.

This brings back a lot of memories. Others have probably identified the locations but left to right they are: (1) The eastern side of East Street at the junction with Bartholomews, where a lot of high end ladies fashion shops congregated togther selling twin sets and of course fashionable hats, one of which can be seen in the shop window. (2) The Western Road side of Churchill Square where some rather less elevated types like me hung around trying to meet girls. And (3) and (4) the decidedly posh T - shaped Regent's Arcade, the first view looking down towards East Street (there was and still is a slight slope) and the second inside, maybe taken from the same place but turned 45 degrees to one side. I often expected to be be turned out by uniformed beadles here but of course in those days there were hardly any security guards let alone beadles (I used to read a lot of Dickens). Derwent was an upmarket TV rental and sales place and colour TVs cost much more than B&W so Regent's Arcade was their natural location. Last time I was back in Brighton, East Street and the arcade still had top end shops, although totally different ones, but the Churchill Square view was unrecognisable.

Tucked away at the back of Churchill Square the Whitgift Card Centre, the biggest card shop in the area (in Europe at the time), was owned by Mr and Mrs Blagden. I used to be a rep calling on them with a range of cards to sell.

Danny - that brutalist concrete statue was called the 'Spirit of Brighton' - there are some images somewhere if you google it. I remember it well - looked especially sad and ugly as the old Churchill Square emptied out prior to redevelopment. I guess it was just smashed up?

I remember the young Geoff Mead whilst I was working as a Saturday boy at Sainsburys circa 1973/6. I collected the trolleys from around Churchill Square and met my mates whilst they skateboarded around the Square and car parks. I'd always get the Albion result (they were in their heyday) from the TV shops and Geoff and the other junior managers would grab me to get the result - no mobiles, Blackberries in those days. The store manager never smiled in my time there.