This is a public park in the early 1900s. The kids are having fun on a rather unusual type of play equipment, presumably provided by the local authority. At today's prices, there's several thousand pounds worth of rocking horses here and they would need to concreted...
Photography was invented in the 1830s and by the early 1900s, when this photograph was taken, thousands of camera clubs were established throughout Britain. Taking a photograph required physical strength (to carry all the heavy equipment), skill, technical know-how...
Douglas motorcycles were made in Bristol from 1907 to 1956. The company produced thousands of them during the First World War and in its latter period made Italian Vespa scooters under licence for the UK market. We really like this eco-friendly wicker sidecar (well,...
This photograph of Deep Ghyll in the Lake District was taken in the late Victorian period. When we compare the specialist clothing and safety equipment used by climbers today, with this lady's long, heavy dress and rope, we can only admire her courage and physical...
London Zoo is the oldest in the world and opened in 1828. Its purpose was to study animals from around the world but it very quickly became a huge hit with the public and it was inevitable that some animals, particularly elephants and camels, would be used to provide...
The first recorded use of a bathing machine was in Margate in 1750 and by 1900 they were considered very old-fashioned and most had disappeared from Britain's beaches. The concept was simple, you would enter via the rear steps whilst on the beach, change into your...
This is one of the most remarkable images in our archive .... and we have many. The Charge of the Light Brigade took place in 1854 during the Crimean War and would have been just another British battle had Alfred, Lord Tennyson not immortalised those who fell in his...
It's the First World War and these British Tommies are in a trench, far from home, probably up to their eyes in mud, filth and the blood and bodies of their friends. But life goes on and while one is sniping at the enemy, another brews the tea! We have hundreds of WW1...
Our archive of almost 20,000 images contains photographs, lithographs, maps and illustrations. This dramatic painting of the Titanic sinking was included in a set of glass projection slides, published in 1912, to be shown in village and town halls to raise money for...
It would be easy to imagine that life in the early 1900s was a very serious matter with long working hours, poor housing, the struggle to pay the rent and put food on the table and, of course, Church on Sunday. The reality is that people had the same capacity for...
This is the Crooked House in Himley, Staffordshire. Our photograph was taken in the early 1900s and shows an extreme example of mining subsidence. I wondered what had happened to the building and when it was demolished and, to my amazement, discovered that it still...
We call it social housing today but in the 1920s when this photograph was taken, it was simply council housing. Judging from the state of the gardens, this is a recently-completed development. Often, the residents were from slums that were beyond repair and scheduled...
Corby is a town in Northamptonshire which, unusually, has a fair every twenty years. This photograph of the fun of the fair (not many smiles here though) was taken in the early 1900s. The fair's various traditions are lost in the mists of time and it's not even known...
The original caption on this photograph is 'Bleriot plane, Filey'. Bleriot was an early pioneering aviator, famous for his designs and flying expertise but we don't think this is him. What was this pilot doing at Filey on Yorkshire's east coast and who was he? We...
In October 1909, an aviation meeting was held at Doncaster Racecourse. These were the early days of flying, the machines were primitive and their designers and engineers (often wealthy amateurs) learnt and adapted through trial and error. Such meetings were an...
HMS Foudroyant, a British Royal Navy ship was, at one time, Admiral Nelson's flagship. She was launched in 1798 and retired from front line duties in 1812. Fifty years later, in 1862, she was converted into a Navy Training ship and was eventually sold into private...
Today, London's river police are highly-trained and well-equipped to respond to emergencies and undertake routine enforcement roles associated with a busy river. This photograph, probably taken in the 1880s, shows their Victorian counterparts. Their role was probably...
This photograph of an AA patrolman was taken between Watford and St. Albans, probably in the 1920s. He is saluting the passing motorist because the car has a badge on it which shows that the driver is a member of the AA and the driver, who is a chauffeur, is saluting...
This extraordinary photograph was taken on 15th April, 1919, shortly after the end of the First World War. The crew had surrended a couple of months earlier and the boat was being towed through the English Channel when it came adrift and ran aground on Hastings Beach....
In Victorian times, some wealthy holiday-makers made regular trips to Switzerland and the more adventurous amongst them climbed mountains. Here we see a young lady crossing a crevasse (which is goodness-knows how deep) on a ladder, with a thin rope and the...
British seaside piers were originally built to enable steamers to call at resorts regardless of the tide and depth of water. However, they immediately became attractions themselves, be it for a stroll 'on' the sea or for the various pleasures they offered. Many have...
Before the formation of the NHS in 1944 and free dental treatment, most people couldn't afford to visit a private dentist, so resorted to any means available to them for treatment. This usually meant removing the tooth that was causing the pain. This photograph from...
Cycling in the late nineteenth century was very popular with men and women. Most women's hobbies and pastimes prior to that, had been in the home, so this was a new freedom. It was liberating to be able to cycle where and when they chose although, in practice, they...
Coal was the fuel that powered industrial Britain and mines were dangerous places to work in a pre-health-and-safety world. When disaster struck, as it often did, one of the main hazards for rescue workers was the presence of toxic gases. Here we see miners wearing...
Many football clubs have a mascot, some stranger than others. This is 'Amos', Barnsley's mascot, in the early 1900s. Enjoy this original photograph from our archive. It is low resolution and has a 'keasbury-gordon.com' watermark. Our NFT photo-art images are higher...
We like the irony in this photograph. The location is Pontefract racecourse, one of the oldest horse racing venues in Europe. The chauffeurs have deposited their wealthy employers at the grandstand for a day of gambling, dining, drinking and networking. Meanwhile,...
These rock dwellings are in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. Cut from sandstone, they were occupied for hundreds of years. Some had four rooms and large families lived in them. The last known occupant is thought to have left for a more conventional home in the early 1900s....
Throughout railway history, accidents were a relatively common occurrence, usually caused by human error. This photograph shows a more unusual one, as a viaduct has collapsed and the engine can be seen on its side on the embankment. The date was 2nd February 1916,...
Denby Dale, a village in Yorkshire, has a history of making huge pies (claimed by some to be the World's largest) to celebrate national and local events. The first was in 1788 and the latest in 1988, with just five other occasions in-between. In this unusual...
There has been a ferry across the River Thames at Woolwich for centuries and there still is. Boats of all types were obvious subjects for early photographers and our archive contains many images of them, including some of the Woolwich ferry. However, we like this one,...
Today, tunnels such as those for the London Crossrail and HS2 railway line projects, are dug mechanically by huge machines but much of the London Underground system was excavated by hand, moving forward one inch at a time. This photograph from the Victorian period,...
Any large ship in dry dock for repairs is an impressive sight. RMS Aquitania was a Cunard Line ocean liner, launched in 1914 and scrapped in 1950. There are several people in this photograph but they're so small compared to the ship, that you'll need to look closely...
The original photograph, on which this photo-art is based, was taken in the 1890s. The photographer has captured a shared moment between mother and child, perhaps singing together. The girl might be a boy as, at this time, boys wore dresses in their early years. When...
The original photograph, on which this photo-art is based, was taken in the 1930s. The railway crossing is just outside Newcastle-upon-Tyne railway station. Enjoy this photo-art based on an original photograph from our archive. It is low resolution and has a...
The original photograph, on which this photo-art is based, was taken in the 1890s. It's great to see a woman as the 'star player' and the men caddying at this early tournament. Enjoy this photo-art based on an original photograph from our archive. It is low resolution...
This photograph was probably taken in the 1930s and shows the proud drivers of the Shredded Wheat fleet. Perhaps these were new lorries and this was a publicity photo. Industrial photographs from this period are relatively rare and this one reminds us that some of our...
We consider the clothes that these ladies are wearing to be traditional Welsh costume but I suspect that, for them, it was simply their 'Sunday best'. Those on the bottom row are knitting and the presence of a spinning wheel would suggest that this is a gathering of...
Car accidents happen and always have done. In the early days of motoring, just to see a car was a novelty, to see one wrapped around a tree was crowd-worthy. There is something fascinating about accidents, especially other people's, and motorway traffic slows down...
Given the current, precarious state of our high street retailers, this photograph, taken in the 1920s, reminds us that household brands, that were part of our childhood and we thought would be there forever, can suddenly disappear, as they succumb to the changing ways...
In Victorian times, soap manufacturers built some of the largest factories in the world, employing tens of thousands of people. Such was the demand for detergent in our polluted, grimy cities and towns. This photograph was taken on the Isle of Skye off the west coast...
We are desperately trying to deal with our environmental issues but their origin can be found in the industrial revolution, when we burnt fossil fuels without any understanding of or thought for the consequences. It has taken a hundred years of legislation and, more...
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