Glastonbury is one of Somerset's, if not Britain's, most attractive historical towns. The many ancient buildings are set in a stunning landscape, which together with historic and legendary connections to figures such as King Arthur and Joseph of Arimathea, have attracted visitors for centuries. The old views mostly date from the first half of the twentieth century, while the modern images were taken by the author. The photographs are laid out as an absorbing tour of Glastonbury. This first...

Dorchester and Around Time is a unique insight into the illustrious history of this part of Dorset. Reproduced in full colour, this is an exciting examination of its well-known streets and famous faces, and what they meant to the people of this area throughout the 19th and into the 20th Century. Looking beyond the exquisite exterior of these well-kept photos, readers can see the historical context in which they are set, and through the author's factual captions for every picture, and caref...

Somerset is justly renowned for its varied landscapes from the wild uplands of Exmoor to the expanses of the Levels. It is also a vibrant county where things have changed regularly. In keeping up with the times, though, it has kept a great deal of what is best about its past, and much of the county's charm comes from features that can seem changeless. Individual chapters in this book cover towns, villages, the coast and countryside, life in Somerset, and historic sites.It includes Glastonb...

The River Frome in Dorset flows for some 30 miles from the chalk uplands of central Dorset into Poole Harbour near Wareham. Its source is St John's Well in the village of Evershot, and from here it flows through some of Dorset's most scenic and historic landscapes. The river passes a wide variety of settlements, including the county town of Dorchester, the Saxon walled town of Wareham, and picturesque villages such as Cattistock and Moreton. A fascinating array of historic features fill th...

Thomas Hardy celebrated the glorious county of Dorset through his writings. Today our vision of Dorset is very much that fixed by Hardy in novels ranging from Far From the Madding Crowd and The Mayor of Casterbridge to Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure. Hurriedly produced in instalments for magazines, they were then reworked by Hardy with care and finesse, and turned into world classics. Steve Wallis revisits the Dorset heartland of Hardy's Wessex, and illustrates the changes ...

Lyme Regis is Dorset’s most westerly town, lying hard by the Devon border. It is famous as one of the main attractions of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, and also has important literary connections with Jane Austen and is the setting for John Fowles’ novel The French Lieutenant’s Woman. Historically, Lyme Regis was a port and fishing town, and its centre extends up a steep hill from the coast. Lyme Regis Through Time looks at the old part of the town in particular, together with it...

Bridport is a thriving market town in western Dorset. It lies a short distance inland of a spectacular section of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, and is surrounded by some equally attractive hilly countryside. Although the town originated in Saxon times, it expanded a great deal in the Middle Ages, partly due to the success of the local rope industry. Many of its products were used in the local fishing and shipbuilding industries, which were concentrated around Bridport Harbour. At...

Brothels and taverns, alehouses and inns, Portsmouth has seen it all. Many of the old port’s drinking establishments have historic and literary associations, as well as stories of their own to tell. Most of the older ones can be found in and around Old Portsmouth, including the survivors of the numerous pubs that once clustered around the dockyards, providing food and drink for naval personnel and other seafarers. Others date from the expansion of the city beyond the old defences and becam...

Wiltshire is one of the largest counties in southern England and has a wide variety of landscapes, from river valleys lined with picturesque villages to the expanses and open skies of Salisbury Plain. It is also a vibrant county where things have changed regularly. In keeping up with the times, though, it has kept much of what is best about its past, and much of the county's charm comes from features that can seem changeless. Individual chapters cover towns, villages, life in Wiltshire and...

Congleton is an ancient borough whose history goes back to Neolithic times. Its historical record dates from Domesday Book when Bigot, a Norman lord, took over the land from a Saxon, Godwine. The town development began when Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, granted Congleton its first charter in 1272. In 1972, the town celebrated its 700th anniversary with numerous events held throughout the year a year never to be forgotten. Changes in the twentieth century resulted in mills being converted in...

Exmoor is one of southern England's few remaining wild landscapes. In this area there are a scattering of attractive villages and the occasional town. Exmoor's importance to the nation is recognised in its protected status as a National Park, and it covers much of western Somerset and an adjacent area of Devon. This book looks at a selection of those villages, including historic Dunster, Selworthy, and the popular Porlock. Dulverton, Lynton and Lynmouth also feature. Views of many of the i...

Swanage lies in a particularly attractive corner of Dorset, in a sheltered bay overlooked by the Purbeck Hills, with chalk cliffs along the coast and views across to the Isle of Wight. Until late Victorian times it was a fishing village and transfer point where locally quarried Purbeck stone was loaded onto ships that took it to London and the wider world. Many of the old images in this book capture the expansion of Swanage around a century ago when it was evolving into the thriving holida...