Picturing past and present

Photographs of Newark past and present are featured in a new book, Newark Through Time, which has been put together by two members of Newark Archaeological and Local History Society.

The chairman, Mr Mike Cox, and secretary, Mrs Jill Campbell, started working on the book in May at the suggestion of local studies librarian Mr Tim Warner.

Mrs Campbell said they spent many hours going through pictures on the Picture The Past website that contains thousands of historic images from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

The site, a joint project between local authorities in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, was launched in June 2003 and has more than 73,000 pictures.

Mrs Campbell said once they had made their choice they sought permission to use them and set about taking new photographs from similar angles.

The society helped with sponsorship for the venture by buying the rights for the pictures.

Mr Cox said they had aimed to create a tour of Newark, taking readers around the town and showing some of the landmark buildings and the changes that have taken place over the years.

The old photographs were from the mid-19th Century up to the 1970s.

The book contains more than 180 black and white and colour photographs, starting with shots of the Castle Station and finishing with Northgate Station.

Many feature shops and houses that are long gone but Mr Cox said it had been interesting to see that many of the scenes were still very similar.

Mrs Campbell said her favourites included two photographs of Queen’s Road taken from the Newark Arms that show how it was before 1897 and again in 1972.

Mr Cox and Mrs Campbell have been members of the society for many years and have extensive local history knowledge, which they used to write the captions.

They were also helped by local historians Mr Mick Gill and Mr Vernon Radcliffe, Mr Mike Smith, of Newark Air Museum, and Mr Steve Milner, of Lincolnshire Transport Museum.

Mr Cox and Mrs Campbell will be signing copies of the book in Strays, Middlegate, Newark, tomorrow.

Copies, priced £12.99, are available from WH Smith, Stray’s and Millgate Museum. Any profits from the books will go to the historical society.

The publishers, Amberley Publishing, have published similar books in other parts of the country.