Memories of a Bygone Era

John Patrick from Swanage Museum came to talk to us this week.

John has an enormous collection of photographs of Swanage going back to the mid 1800s and we were informed and entertained by the photographs shown, many of which were of shops vaguely familiar to some of those present!

The collection is a real timeline of how Swanage has changed over the past 150 years and were also a reminder of darker times, when fires, floods and wars changed the physical landscape of the town, with some roads and buldings having disappeared completely while others have sprung up.

Some of the businesses names have been with us for a very long time, albeit with changes of ownership along the way, while other buildings have been occupied by many different owners. 

It was a fascinating look at the town over the years and on behalf of the group, President Chris thanked John for sharing some of his extensive collection with us.