NEWS COPY – WITH PICTURES – By Jack Evans
The memories may have faded, but these newly-found photos of bygone Britain are so clear they look as though they could have been taken yesterday.
The remarkable collection shows a forgotten age in the years after the war as the country learned how to enjoy itself once more.
Old-fashioned shops line streets which are empty apart from the odd car.
Couples wear their finest clothes as they enjoy a meal outside their new homes and children flock to church Sunday schools.
Other pictures show Heathrow in its earliest days, with passengers boarding a silver British European Airways plane directly from the tarmac.
Another has a family group enjoying a lazy summer’s day in a punt and others show a country fair where a new car can be won for a shilling.
The slides, dating from the 1950s, were among 200 found on eBay by collector Martin Snelling.
He has spent the past six months collecting over 6,000 retro slides from auctions and car boot sales as part of an art project documenting the changing face of Britain.
Martin, 44, believes the most 200 all were taken by one man named David Bryant and is trying to return them to the original owners.
The father-of-three, from Portchester, Hants., said: “They show a lot of family moments like christenings, weddings and family holidays and I want to return their memories to them.
“The colours are amazing and still remain strong. They have been placed in glass and have obviously been in storage which has protected them from the light.”
He added: “I think I was searching eBay one day because I was in a creative rut. I picked up some slides for about #3 and got addicted.
“I just thought it would be interesting to see how people and places had changed over the past few decades.
“My wife isn’t best pleased because the house is now full of boxes of photographic slides.”
Martin bought the latest slides on eBay on January 2 from a man who himself found them at an auction in Wisbech, Cambs..
The seller knew nothing of their history but Martin has since posted some on social media and thinks he may have found potential relatives of David in St Ives, Cambs.
ENDS
