Roger wrote:
Incidentally I
tried looking for oldmaps.co.uk earlier today but couldn't gain access
and the link from the OS site seems to have disappeared.

Oldmaps closed down for a while "due to too many orders" (!) but has
since returned (with a hyphen), i.e. http://www.old-maps.co.uk/ One map
from the years they have for each area is free to view, though I agree
they can be of poor quality.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/mapsheet.asp seems to have a similar
set of OS maps. http://www.yourmapsonline.org.uk/ also has a reasonably
wide selection, and there are other sites covering particular towns.
Reprints of old maps can also be bought from
http://www.alangodfreymaps.co.uk/ and most Local Studies Centres have a
local selection for sale. Old A-Zs regularly appear for a few pounds on
eBay (the price rockets if before 1910), but unhelpfully are frequently
undated.

I didn't mention street directories listing every resident in my first
reply, as few of these resumed publication after WW2. Many earlier ones
from mid 19th to early 20th century can be seen at
http://www.historicaldirectories.org/ The county-wide ones do not show
all residents, as entry was by application. If you're lucky, there may
be a local one which will show the principal householder at each
address. Be warned that renaming and renumbering streets used to be a
popular pasttime. Old directories scanned onto CD can be bought from
places such as http://www.rod-neep.co.uk/ and http://www.kellys-i.com/
but it's a bit expensive to look up just one address.

Chris