Thurrock Past and Present : The Changing Faces of the Area and Its People

This book gives a fascinating insight into the dramatic changes that have taken place in the area over the past 100 years. Thurrock Past & Present recalls houses and public buildings, shops, churches and pubs that have vanished or been changed beyond all recognition. The pictures show changing types of transport and fashion, and the developing character of streets and districts as they took on the form that is familiar today. The astonishing periods of growth that occurred during late Victorian and Edwardian eras, and since the Second World War, are particularly well illustrated. Many aspects of the changing area are recalled – hospitals and schools, places of work and recreation, parks and squares, suburban streets and the main thoroughfares – and the pictures record the ceaseless building and rebuilding that characterises the area today. The author has combined a remarkable selection of archive photographs with modern views of the same scenes in order to record the transformation that has occurred. The book will add to the knowledge, appreciation and enjoyment of all those who take an interest in this distinctive area.