IN the News Feature Malvern, then and now... (Malvern Gazette & Ledbury Reporter, October 13) may I suggest that the 19th Century photograph more likely dates from the 1870's.

The reason for this dating are:

1. On the right hand side of the photograph the houses in Lansdowne Crescent can be seen but there is no sign of the upper end of Barnards Green Road. In fact Church Street sweeps round directly into Imperial Road.

2. There are no houses on Avenue road or Imperial Road. Since most of the houses currently seen in these roads were built well before the end of the 19th Century, as were the pair of semi-detached houses situated at the junction Madresfield Road, Church Street and Barnards Green Road, but not seen in the photograph, it confirms that the date of the photograph is probably up to 30 years before the end of the century.

I would be very interested if any reader can confirm my thoughts as to the likely date of the photograph.

R J CULCHETH, Barnards Green Road, Malvern.