According to legend, Dundrum dates back to the seventh century, when St Nahi founded his monastery here, and for centuries it remained a rural village on the edge of Dublin. However, large-scale housing developments in the last fifty years and retail advances in the last decade have led to extensive changes in the character and makeup of the area.

Local historian and author Hugh Oram explores its history by contrasting forty-five archive images with modern photographs taken by Vincent Clarke. Accompanied by detailed and informative captions, each page provides a vibrant and important record of the changing face of Dundrum.

In many ways the country house symbolized Edwardian life, with its expensive elegance, social seasons and sharp social contrasts. All key families owned country houses and millions of domestic and agricultural workers depended on the country house and its estates for their livelihoods. Yet when the shadow of war fell, the long, post Edwardian, tea-on-the-lawn summer came to an abrupt end.

Used during the war as hospitals, convalescent homes, training camps and for agricultural production, there is also the human side to the country house at war: male workers conscripted, fathers losing all hereditary heirs, women taking roles as nurses, and the social barriers as they were challenged at home and on the front.

The country house that emerged in 1919 was a much changed place. This is its story.

A history of Cottingham

Once a major cotton spinning town, there were at one time over twenty mills in Chorley. The first steam-powered cotton mills and the Lancaster Canal to the east of the town were built in the late 1790s and the railway was connected to Chorley from Bolton in 1841. The Royal Ordnance Factory was established in 1939 and produced ammunition until winding down in 2002. Since then the biggest housing development in Lancashire has been taking place on the site: the building of a complete new village called Buckshaw. Despite the loss of some heritage, Chorley still has three mills in use locally, as well as Astley Hall and Park, the new Yarrow Valley Country Park and Healey Nab.
In this book a wonderful collection of old photographs are compared and contrasted with modern equivalents, unveiling amazing changes and unexpected similarities.

Ashton-under-Lyne – usually shortened to Ashton – is a town in the foothills of the Pennines, some six miles east of Manchester. There has been a township on the site since the Middle Ages, and the area saw much expansion and development during the Industrial Revolution. Ashton, traditionally part of Lancashire, is, today, the administrative centre of the metropolitan borough of Tameside. The town has witnessed many changes over the past century, some of which are captured in this volume.

Archive images and full-colour modern-day photographs, taken from approximately the same location, are used to compare and contrast the Ashton of yesterday and today and to put on record some of the faces of this constantly evolving modern town.

The city of York is one of England’s most historic and best preserved cities, which is uniquely reflected in this fascinating new compilation. Contrasting a selection of ninety archive images alongside full-colour modern photographs, this unique book captures how the city used to be and how it looks today.

Accompanied by informative captions, each page captures life in the area as it once was — and is now. Featuring streets and buildings, shops and businesses, and the people of York, all aspects of life in the city are covered, providing a fascinating insight into the changing face of the city.

As well as delighting the many tourists who visit the city, York Then & Now will provide today’s residents with a glimpse of how the city used to look, in addition to awakening nostalgic memories for those who used to live or work here.

This stunning collection of images showcases the last century of life in the Lancashire town of Rossendale.

Compiled by local-history expert Susan Halstead, it will delight visitors and residents alike.

Granted city status in 2002, Preston is one of England’s newest cities. However the area’s history dates back to Roman times when travelling legions set up a camp midway along the road between Luguvalium (Carlisle) and Mamucium (Manchester). Since then a lot has changed – the area has undergone hundreds of years of development through various periods of history.
You may be forgiven for thinking that Preston has little surviving evidence of its history, however the fascinating comparisons in Preston Then & Now show that a lot has remained, as well as a great deal that has changed over the years.

A powerful and iconic weapon, the longbow dominated Medieval warfare in England. From the Hundred Years War to Hastings, Robin Hood and Agincourt, the longbow was also used to a devastating effect in naval battles.

Kings of England encouraged the use of the longbow by sponsoring tournaments with prizes for successful archers. All other sports were banned on a Sunday except for archery. At any particular time, England would have a large pool of experienced archers ready to be called up for war. Each English shire had to provide the king with a certain number of trained archers per year – and this was enforced by law. But where did the longbow originate and why did it come to dominate archery in this way?

The Pitkin Guide to Longbows and Archery explores these questions and looks at the ordinary men who used bows and arrows as soldiers and in their day-to-day lives.

Britain’s secret war

This fascinating book explores the transformations that have seen Bournemouth develop from a small seaside town into a major South Coast resort and bustling centre of commerce.

Beautiful archive images are skilfully contrasted with modern photographs taken from the same vantage point today, and show how Bournemouth has changed – as well as the familiar landmarks that have remained. From the gardens as they originally appeared, freshly laid out with a large fountain where the balloon now stands, to the East Cliff Lift, the Cloisters, the model boats once sailed at Children’s Corner and the peaceful surroundings of the ‘Invalids Walk’, Bournemouth Then & Now will rekindle fond memories for many people, and will delight residents and visitors alike.

Southend-on-Sea has gone through many transformations since its birth in the Middle Ages when a settlement of farmers and fishermen was established at the southernmost end of the lands of Prittlewell Priory. Having acquired the name ‘South End’, the area changed when the Lord of the Manor in the eighteenth century had a ‘New Town’ built along the cliffs to the west. The arrival of the railway in the mid-nineteenth century, and the subsequent influx of seaside day trippers, boosted Southend’s popularity and it quickly expanded into a large and bustling town. In this fascinating photographic history, Ken Crowe takes a fond look at his home town, exploring the changes to its streets through carefully chosen snapshots of Southend-on-Sea as it was in the past and is today.