The textile mills in the Derwent Valley had a massive impact on world history. This was the birthplace of the modern factory, where the innovations of industrial pioneers, coupled with access to tireless water power, enabled mass production to occur for the first time. The communities created to support the early mills are remarkable, and much has survived of the early workers’ housing in Cromford, Belper, Milford and Darley Abbey. Now inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the Derwe...

From the late eighteenth century, the Industrial Age transformed Belper from a small village of nail-makers to a busy and successful town. Thanks to the Strutt family, the town was the first in the world to have water-powered cotton mills, and the hundreds of people that flocked to work in those mills were provided with homes, chapels, schools and much more. Since Belper was inscribed on to the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Derwent Valley Mills Site in 2001, the drive to save, ...

Acclaimed as the world's first cotton mill town, Belper nestles by the River Derwent, 8 miles north of Derby. From a tiny village by an ancient deer park, it was transformed by the Strutt family and others into a vibrant industrial powerhouse by the end of the nineteenth century. The town faced huge challenges during the twentieth century as mills and factories closed, and Belper adapted to survive. The present-day town lies at the heart of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, whi...

Stevenage Through Time is a unique insight into the illustrious history of this part of the country. Reproduced in full colour, this is an exciting examination of Stevenage, the famous streets and the 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...

Nuneaton Street by Street Through Time is a unique insight into the illustrious history of this part of the country. Reproduced in full colour, this is an exciting examination of Nuneaton, the famous streets and the famous faces, and what they meant to the people of this area throughout the nineteenth and into the twentieth 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...

Wednesbury Through Time is a unique insight into the illustrious history of this part of the West Midlands. Reproduced in full colour, this is an exciting examination of the 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, a...

Salford is often seen as the smaller twin of Manchester, its neighbour across the River Irwell. In fact, Salford was a borough long before Manchester achieved that status, but even in the 1530s John Leland described it as 'a large suburb to Manchester'. However, during the Industrial Revolution, Manchester grew more rapidly than Salford, although together they were the first 'shock city' of the industrial age, described in graphic detail by writers such as de Tocqueville and Engels. While ...

Hitchin Through Time is a unique insight into the illustrious history of this part of Hertfordshire. Reproduced in full colour, this is an exciting examination of this part of the country, the famous streets and the 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 fo...

Langport is an ancient market town in the heart of the Somerset Levels. Set in a rural landscape of rivers, moors and hills, it owes its historical importance to its strategic position at a crossing point on the River Parrett. The town is encircled by the river on one side and the more populous parish of Huish Episcopi on the other. The medieval Hanging Chapel and the former buildings of Kelways Nurseries illustrate the area's religious and commercial roots. The area's quiet atmosphere bel...

The name Chislehurst literally means a stony place in the woods. These woods are very much apparent today. Chislehurst is surrounded by National Trust woodland, Scadbury Park and the unique central feature of the Chislehurst Commons, which is conserved as open space in perpetuity by Acts of Parliament. The Chislehurst Caves, where many thousands of Londoners sheltered during the Blitz of the Second World War, are also a key tourist attraction. The arrival of the railway in 1865 sparked the...

For more than 130 years, photographers have been recording life in Edenfield, Turn, Stubbins, Irwell Vale and Ewood Bridge. Like most places in Lancashire, these villages have long histories stretching back to the sixteenth century and beyond. For many years, people hereabouts made a living from hill farming and handloom weaving, until industrialisation in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries brought water-powered and steam-driven mills to the neighbourhood. The period photographs ...

Bridgnorth lies in the south-east corner of Shropshire, separated by a dozen miles of farmland from the Black Country, the same distance from the old carpet town of Kidderminster to the south-east, and only thirty miles from Birmingham. Situated along the Severn Valley, and named after a bridge over the River Severn, as a former busy river port, Bridgnorth has seen a wide variety of industries and events over the years. Bridgnorth life is well represented here and many poignant memories wi...