THE Faithful City's past came back to life at the Guildhall on Saturday, when Worcester Life Stories held a major public event.

Hundreds of people of all ages came to share their memories of the city's past, enjoy tea and cakes, and look a a photographic reconstruction of the High Street as it was in the 1950s.

Worcester Life Stories is a joint venture involving the city council and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, aimed at supporting the health and wellbeing of older people or those living with dementia by getting people to focus on their memories and tell their stories.

Sheena Payne-Lunn, historical environment records officer for Worcester City Council, said: "The council has a collection of about 40,000 old photos of the city, forming part of the Worcester city historic environment record and we're now looking to make these available online and searchable for the very first time."

Dr Natasha Lord of the health trust said: "Old photographs like this bring people together to share their memories and their stores, and we want to hear those stores. We're delighted with the number of people who have come to today's exhibition. As soon as the doors were open, people were flocking in."

Worcester Life Stories is now planning to apply for a Heritage Lottery Grant to continue its work.