Winchester: From the Sollars Collection

How many of the events, people, businesses, shops, buildings of bygone Winchester do you recall? Do you remember the Awdry Tea Rooms in the High Street, and the West of England Sack Factory? Or the interior of Mr Offord's sweet shop in NOrth Walls when Nutty Nutty sweets were 7d. a quarter? Or when the price of eggs was over five shillings a dozen, for many more than the hourly rate of pay?

This often thought-provoking selection of photographs, many of which are seen in print for the first time, have all been carefully selected by John Brimfield from the archives of well-known local photographer E.A. (Bob) Sollars. They show the harmony and strife of everyday life in Winchester – political protests and Christmas parties. Many local businesses and tradespeople are here, and so are the formal occasions which have taken place in this Cathedral city over the years – the old Assize Courts and the procession of Judges to the Cathedral, and the enthronement of a new Bishop.

These images of this ancient city which has seen so many changes over the last forty years will evoke fond memories for anyone who can remember Winchester as it looked in the not-so-distant past, and will fascinate younger residents who want to catch a tantalizing glimpse of a world we have all but lost.