Bromsgrove: Images of England

The old market town of Bromsgrove, midway between Worcester and Birmingham, has long been a focal point for the surrounding villages and hamlets. Like most places it has seen a number of changes in recent years. Some of the older buildings, green spaces and rights of way have disappeared, and with these has gone a different way of life. But some change has been for the better and the old is learning to live with the new. Once a year the ancient Court Leet parades past the Georgian facades of the largely pedestrianized High Street and re-enacts its old duties by conducting the Assize of Bread, Ale and Leather. At the Worcester end of the High Street, for centuries the heart of the town, the brand new market hall stands below the fine medieval parish church whose churchyard boasts two of the country's most famous gravestones. Nearby is Bromsgrove School, founded over four hundred years ago and counting among its acholars A.E. Housman and on the town's eastern edge the bypass runs close to the Lickey Incline - a remarkable railway climb constructed in 1840 and known to all fans of steam. This engaging collection of more than 200 photographs comes from the private albums of old Bromsgrove families, from businesses and organisations and from the archive built up by Tim Brotherton, an estate agent and familiar figure in the town for many years. Together they now show how Bromsgrove has changed over the last century.