Tuesday 25 October 2022

Rue du Senateur NIOCHE in Preuilly sur Claise

Someone posted an old postcard of rue du Sénateur NIOCHE on Facebook, and then someone else wrote a brief history of this short street. Other postcards were produced and a discussion about the man the street is named after ensued.

Postcard of Rue du Senateur NIOCHE, Preuilly sur Claise, Indre et Loire, France.
Old postcard of rue du Sénateur Nioche.
 

Probably most people in town could not name this street, despite it being a major thoroughfare. It's very short, running between the Abbey and the bridge. It was called rue de l'Abreuvoir in 1813 and rue du Pont (or Pont-Neuf) around 1860 after the construction of the new bridge over the Claise. At the southern end it had tall Elm trees either side. They seem to have been cut down sometime before 1950 and linden trees planted in their place.


Police stopping cars for a large funeral in a village, Indre et Loire, France. Photo by Loire Valley Time Travel.
Police stopping traffic for Gilles Bertucelli's funeral in rue du Sénateur Nioche.

Pierre Hercule Aristide Nioche was born in Loches in 1820. He became a lawyer, then was the Member of Parliament (député) for Indre et Loire from 1872 to 1876. Then he was elected as a leftist Republican senator from 1888 to 1902. He died in Preuilly in 1902 at the home of his son-in-law and mayor of Preuilly, Dr Jules Durand.

Rue du Senateur Nioche, Preuilly sur Claise, Indre et Loire, France. Photo by Loire Valley Time Travel.
I'm standing on the other side of the road, but otherwise this is the same view as the postcard.

 The street was renamed in honor of Sénateur Nioche in 1910.

3 comments:

Colin and Elizabeth said...

I love old views and how things change. The big question is why did they remove the bridge walls and replace with railings? Perhaps the wall was not safe... The other interest is the lens scaling, the chateau looks nearer on the old photo.

potty said...

The bridge looks wider to me.

Susan said...

Colin: I think Potty is right. They took the opportunity to widen the bridge. And probably make it safer. You are right about the different lenses. It's impossible to take the same view with any of my cameras.

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