A FASCINATING glimpse of Worcester and Worcestershire from the past is available on a new website devoted to one of the earliest and most significant collections of aerial photograph.
The website Britain from Above has been launched by English Heritage and the Royal Commissions on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and Wales, and showcases the Aerofilms Collection, a unique and important archive of aerial photographs.
And this selection, showing Worcester and other towns in the 1920s, gives a hint of what has changed – and what has stayed the same – from then to now.In the main picture on the opposite page, many of the city’s landmarks, such as the railway viaduct and road bridge are visible, but there is no footbridge linking the racecourse with Hylton Road.
Hylton Road itself is there, but note all the buildings between it and the river, all of which are long gone.
And the old railway ramp, descending from Foregate Street station to the easy bank of the Severn is also clearly visible.
In the picture of Castle Street, note Worcester Gaol to the left, which is now gone, as has the church with spire just up the road from it. But the Royal Infirmary buildings on the right foreground look remarkably like they do now, shorn of the modern developments that grew up during the post-war period.
In the view of Malvern Link, Highfield Road is in the foreground, St Matthias Church on the left in the middle distance, and the conspicuous row of houses in the upper-middle right is Pickersleigh Road. The area beyond, now occupied by Russell Drive, Victoria Park, and the Spring Lane estate is completely undeveloped.
The Aerofilms Collection was acquired for the nation in 2007, and the website contains more than 15,000 images from the collection. Due to their age and fragility, many of the earliest plate glass negatives were close to being lost forever.
By the end of the project in 2014, 95,000 images taken between 1919 and 1953 will be available online, showing the changing face of modern Britain.The website can be found at britainfromabove. org.uk.
Watch out for Michael Grundy’s Worcester Memories book – appearing soon.
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