For this stroll we should start at the Visitor Information Centre, which is situated in the Place St Maur des Fosses.

This area was constructed following the re-development of York Road into the new Regis Centre, which was opened in 1980, alongside the flats of Mountbatten Court.

It is difficult to believe this area in the centre of our seafront was completed only 22 years ago.

From here, we should walk towards the town hall, passing, on our left, one of Arun District Council's blue plaques.

This indicates the premises where Dante Gabriel Rosetti worked in 1875 in the stable of his home.

These premises are today the garages for a group of solicitors.

Our next major construction is of course the town hall, which was opened in 1929, after the closure of their building in the High Street.

This was one of a number of developments in the town, around the time King George was here to recuperate.

Town hall needed

It was felt the town was in need of an imposing town hall. It is interesting to see the number of different stones incorporated into this building to act as a memorial to the builder, architect and council representatives of the time.

Next we continue inland, along Clarence Road, passing the Roman Catholic Church that was opened in 1882 by a group of monks.

This massive construction would, at that time, have been very imposing in such a small seaside resort that was still only slowly developing.

Previously there had only been a small meeting area near West Street to accommodate the Catholics in the town.

Turning left we will now stroll along the High Street, which contains a variety of buildings constructed at various times in the town's development.

First we arrive at today's post office, which was opened in 1926, after having a variety of previous sites throughout the town centre. Walking further along the High Street, on the opposite side, we see the Lock Centre, and it is quite difficult to realise this was originally the town's fire station built in 1899, as shown on the top façade of the building.

Next door is the William Hardwick, which was opened in 1810 as The New Inn and eventually changed to The Sussex Inn.

It was built to accommodate the coach and horses that would travel down from London and pass through the town on their way to Portsmouth.

The name William Hardwick commemorates the original builder of the New Inn. He is buried in South Bersted churchyard.

Opposite the William Hardwick is a pub. Originally a private house, it was constructed in 1870. For a number of years the front rooms were used as a restaurant.

However, it was not until 1947 that it became a pub known to many people as the Orlando.

For a few years, it became The Hogshead, before being renovated and renamed The Beach House, and more recently it changed name again to Ocean's.

High street names

Further along the road, we find The Body Shop. If you take time to look, you can still see a number of original green glazed tiles that formed the outline of the pub, The York Inn, which was built as a Post House in the 1830s.

Next of course we find the impressive Arcade, which was begun in 1901 by William Tate, the local Bognor builder.

This was just one of his constructions throughout the town. At one time one of the shops in the Arcade was Timothy Whites, but as the town centre developed, they were able to buy new premises opposite, at a cost of £17,000.

This site is now the Abbey National Building Society, but was originally the United Reform Church, who sold the church and site, as it was becoming quite difficult for the parishioners to worship quietly.

On the corner, adjacent to the Arcade, we now have Kentucky Fried Chicken, but this building has been home to a wide variety of businesses.

During the 1880s York House occupied it, and the Arcade was built in the grounds of the house.

The businesses in these corner premises have included a bank, job centre, Burger King and today's KFC, a far cry from its original use as a private residence.

Across York Road is another impressive building – Staffurth and Bray.

For years E Lawrence Wood, who was a publisher of books and postcards, occupied this site. This was also another post office site as well as a general store.

Interestingly, some shops never change and that is almost true of Hutton's the off-licence, which was originally Buckle and Clidero. Their original storage buildings can still be seen in Belmont Street.

Mine's a pint

Looking through street directories, it would appear these premises have always been used for the sale of provisions, but principally drink.

If we look across the road we can see Blockbusters video shop, which was the site of Bognor Motors and originally a Wesleyan chapel.

Further along we had the very popular Torbay Fisheries, replaced by the recently-closed Portman Building Society.

Continuing along this side of the road, we come to the car park for Safeway but for many this will always hold memories of the Southdown bus depot, with its distinctive art deco frontage.

However, until 1929, this site was occupied by the town hall when it moved to today's site.

How many people can remember a restaurant in this vicinity, which I think was very well used and much loved by Bognorians – that of the Polly Anne restaurant.

Although there have been quite a number of restaurants and cafés in the town, it is usually the name of the Polly Anne that evokes the most memories.

Next to this was the imposing wall of the Merchant Taylors Convalescent Home, which was eventually demolished in the 1950s in preparation for the construction of the new impressive Queensway and Fitzleet House.

Well, this was the view in the 1960s when it was reported the town was forward looking by constructing these two major developments in the area.

While in this vicinity, we can cross the road to Lennox Street. This short road leading to the sea originally had a coal yard at its junction with the promenade, until William Butlin moved in with his amusement arcade in the 1930s.

He remained here until 1960 when he moved to his current site. The corner building, which today contains a number of small shops, was for many years occupied by Webster and Webb.

These premises were also for a time one of our many post offices, but was originally a library and reading room.

Webster and Webb became renowned for producing a wide range of postcards and pictorial books on Bognor, which form such a good basis of information that I and other local historians use when researching the visual history of the town.