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Mystery photos from the Preston Digital Archive: Part 5

Posted on - 21st March, 2014 - 9:00am | Author - | Posted in - History, Mystery Photos, Nostalgia, Photos, Preston Locations

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The Flickr based Preston Digital Archive is a truly fantastic collection of vintage Preston related images and ephemera dating from the mid nineteenth century to the late twentieth century. There are currently almost 12,000 images available for all to view in several ranges of photographic resolution and what’s more it is completely free of charge.

Over time, a few digitally scanned photos of unknown origin, location and subject have appeared and the guys at Preston Digital Archive would love to know if anyone could help with identifying people, locations and any other useful information regarding these photos.

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Have a look at the images below and see if there is anything you recognise about them, in particular, people and places, including names if possible.

Our first offering of an unknown Preston location is Mystery Photo forty-five, below. This is an image from 1910 of somewhere in Preston and appears to be in some way newspaper related

Mystery Photo 45

Mystery photo forty-five

Next we have mystery photos forty-six, forty-seven and forty-eight, these are 1932 scenes of a location in Preston depicting some of the very bad housing conditions which were quite commonplace in this time period. Note the very cramped conditions and the run-down state of the outbuildings. Maybe you could recognise these particular buildings from an old family photograph or vague memory from the past.

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Mystery Photo 46

Mystery photo forty-six

Mystery Photo 47

Mystery Photo forty-seven

Mystery Photo forty-eight

Mystery Photo forty-eight

In mystery photo forty-nine, we see a very attractive type of residence typical of rural areas around Preston. It has been suggested that this photo may have been captured in the Walton Green, Walton-le-Dale area. Any thoughts? Do you recognise it from a photo or somewhere in your area, or does it even still exist?

Mystery photo forty-seven

Mystery photo forty-nine

Another difficult to spot location in mystery photo fifty.  There is no information at all on this property, not even any details of whether or not it still exists. However, it is just possible that a reader may have lived there in the past or even in that particular street.  At best someone may well have an idea of its location in Preston.

Mystery Photo forty-nine

Mystery Photo fifty

The delightful scene of mystery photo fifty-one is of an obvious flood and was taken around 1900. There are a few pointers to note in this image. Is there a park or play area to the left where the gate is and is it also likely that there is a river nearby? Notice the ghostly images of the children created by their constant movement during the relatively long duration shutter speed of the cameras of that time. Do you know this place or have you seen it in an old family photo? Please do let us know.

Mystery Photo fifty

Mystery Photo fifty-one

Our final puzzler for this weeks selection is mystery photo fifty-two. It is an image taken around 1910 and of a Preston school thought to be in the Deepdale area but probably unlikely to be St. Luke’s School. Just look at the definite scowls amongst some of the children in the photo, they really don’t look like they approve do they? I sincerely don’t think that any reader will be in this photograph, although there may be a known relative, but once again, someone may just have some idea of the name of the school and location of where it was taken.
This image is by Image courtesy of Paul Gregson. Copyright Paul Gregson

Mystery photo fifty-two

Mystery photo fifty-two

 

Did you recognise anything in any of these photos? Even the smallest of details can very often give a significant clue as to their identification. So, if you have found something you might think of as being a lead, even a tenuous one, then please state your findings in the comments section below.

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Click here for part 6 of the series – or – here for part 4

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