From Old Photographs – serie

Cumbernauld in North Lanarkshire has seen huge changes over the years. Originally a village built around Cumbernauld Castle and Cumbernauld House, it was designated a New Town in 1955 to house people living in poor conditions and war-damaged areas in Glasgow and elsewhere. Its population grew rapidly as construction started and by 1967, when the town centre was opened by Princess Margaret, Cumbernauld was winning awards for its innovative modernist architecture. Construction and expansion has continued in the ensuing years, with some of its original architecture being modified and even rebuilt for the changing requirements of people living in present-day Scotland.In Cumbernauld From Old Photographs author Adam Smith has drawn on a remarkable selection of images to give a pictorial record of how much the town and the community has changed over the years. Although many of landmarks have remained the same, the photographs show the town adapting and evolving, with many other buildings being replaced and the pattern of life in the town changing for many too. This fascinating collection of images will be of interest to those who have lived in Cumbernauld or know it well.

The City of Nottingham as we know it today began life as an Anglo-Saxon settlement. By the late nineteenth century, Nottingham had developed into a thriving city. Through photographs, documents and other images, Nottingham From Old Photographs reflects the change from the early settlement of Tigguo Cobauc (a place of cave dwellings) to one of the leading cities in England. Most of the photographs and research within these pages have come from the collection of the late Paul Nix of the Nottingham Hidden History Team (NHHT). The work of the NHHT exceeds well over forty years. Combined with the author's own collection and never-before-published documents, images and photographs from the Paul Nix Collection, we see a new side to Nottingham, an ever-changing city.

The south coast city of Brighton has long been one of Britain’s most famous and influential places, ever since the Prince of Wales, later George IV, began to visit regularly, constructed the Royal Pavilion and thus encouraged its development as a fashionable seaside resort. Brighton continued to grow as a major tourist centre following the arrival of the railways in 1841, becoming a popular destination for day-trippers from London.In this fascinating collection of images from the Victorian and Edwardian eras, author Christopher Horlock shows Brighton at the height of its fame as the ‘Queen of watering places’, a time when many of her major attractions were built, including the Grand Hotel, the West Pier, and the Brighton Palace Pier. Brighton From Old Photographs provides something for everyone, be they long-time residents or first-time visitors.

Famous as a seaside holiday resort, Scarborough was believed to have been established by Norsemen around AD 966. The town and its castle changed hands seven times between Royalists and Parliamentarians during the English Civil War of the 1640s, enduring two lengthy and violent sieges. Following this war, much of the town lay in ruins. In the seventeenth century the discovery of a stream of acidic water running from one of the cliffs to the south of the town gave birth to Scarborough Spa and soon visitors flooded to the town. Scarborough Spa became Britain’s first seaside resort and a popular getaway destination for the wealthy of London. The coming of the Scarborough–York railway in 1845 increased the tide of visitors and in the same year Scarborough’s first hotel, the Crown, was opened, followed shortly after by the Grand Hotel, soon to be Europe’s largest. In this fascinating collection of images, local author Robin Lidster shows Scarborough’s history, from its Victorian heyday as a major spa resort through its continued popularity as one of Britain’s main domestic holiday destinations. Scarborough: From Old Photographs provides something for everyone, be they long-time residents or first-time visitors

In the twelfth century the abbots of Burton began to produce beer. The dissolution of the abbey in the sixteenth century saw inns and alehouses appear, with many selling beer brewed on-site. The first recognisable brewery was Benjamin Printon’s, which was established on Horninglow Street around 1708. The Trent & Mersey Canal, built in 1774/75, allowed further expansion to the industry, but it was the coming of the railway in 1839 that led to massive growth – by 1888 there were thirty-one breweries employing over 8,000 men and producing over 3 million barrels a year.In this collection of images, local author and historian Terry Garner illustrates the history of this famous east Staffordshire town and provides a fascinating insight into the many lost breweries that made Burton-on-Trent the brewing capital of the world.

The Wirral Peninsula in north-west England lies within Cheshire and Merseyside but has its own distinct identity. In the east, on the estuary of the River Mersey, lie the two largest urban centres on the Wirral, Birkenhead and Wallasey. These grew rapidly in the nineteenth century with large docks in both, increasing industrialisation and improved access to Liverpool across the Mersey. At the same time the resort of New Brighton was also established. On the eastern side of the Wirral, on the estuary of the River Dee, development in the towns of Hoylake, West Kirby and Heswall was slower, although improved transport links with Chester and Liverpool in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw these towns grow too. Away from these heavily populated towns, there are more rural areas in the south and west of the Wirral.Wirral From Old Photographs presents a fascinating portrait of the Wirral over the last 100 years. Drawing on an extensive collection of historical photographs, the author surveys how the area has changed, from the height of its industrial development, when the docks were busy, through the intense destruction of areas of the Wirral from aerial bombardment during the Second World War, post-war industrial decline and later regeneration. This book will appeal to all those who know this part of north-west England.

Rugby From Old Photographs offers a captivating glimpse into the history of this town, providing the reader with a visual representation of Rugby's intriguing and chequered history. Drawing upon an eclectic collection of over 200 photographs, the Rugby History Group presents the reader with an insight into the history and life of this popular town. Rugby From Old Photographs provides something for everyone, whether they have lived in the Rugby all their lives, or whether they are just visiting this Warwickshire town. Rugby life is well represented here and many poignant memories are given a new lease of life. This stunning collection of photographs also shows how photography has continually evolved to keep up with an ever changing society.