Make sure you are not blocking content.

Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link}

A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?

One issue that seems more common lately is Firefox's Content Blocking. When it is blocking content in a page, a shield icon will appear at the left end of the address bar next to the padlock icon. This article has more info on managing this feature:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/content-blocking

Thanks for the suggestions but I tried both Safe Mode and disabled Content blocking for this site, but neither fixed the problem. The "please wait" circling icon in the center of the screen continues endlessly.

Start your Computer in safe mode with network support. Then start Firefox. Try Secure websites. Is the problem still there?

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Linux+Safe+Mode Starting Any Computer In Safe Mode; Free Online Encyclopedia

You can remove all data stored in Firefox from a specific domain via "Forget About This Site" in the right-click context menu of an history entry ("History -> Show All History" or "View -> Sidebar -> History").

Using "Forget About This Site" will remove all data stored in Firefox from this domain like history and cookies and passwords and exceptions and cache, so be cautious. If you have a password or other data from that domain that you do not want to lose then make sure to backup this data or make a note.

You can't recover from this 'forget' unless you have a backup of involved files.

If you revisit a 'forgotten' website then data from that website will be saved once again.

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/delete-browsing-search-download-history-firefox

Cor-EL:

Thanks for the solution. Clearing the data for that website fixed the problem and the page loads properly now.

I shall remember that approach for future similar issues.

Using "Forget About This Site" is usually done as a last resort.

You can first try these steps in case of issues with web pages:

You can reload web page(s) and bypass the cache to refresh possibly outdated or corrupted files.

• hold down the Shift key and left-click the Reload button
• press "Ctrl + F5" or press "Ctrl + Shift + R" (Windows,Linux)
• press "Command + Shift + R" (Mac)

Clear the Cache and remove the Cookies for websites that cause problems via the "3-bar" Firefox menu button (Options/Preferences).

"Remove the Cookies" for websites that cause problems:

• Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security
  Cookies and Site Data -> Manage Data

"Clear the Cache":

• Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security
  Cookies and Site Data -> Clear Data -> Cached Web Content: Clear

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

• switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Themes
• do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Safe Mode start window

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode
• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-extensions-themes-to-fix-problems