NEW to the bookshops this week is a collection of photographs showing Blackpool scenes of yesteryear.

The pages of Francis Frith's Around Blackpool contain more than 100 high quality historic photographs.

Extended captions bring out the flavour of the old photographs, taken between 1860 and 1970 but mainly concentrating on the Victorian era.

The illustrations are from the famous Francis Frith Collection, started in 1850, which forms a huge archive of images of towns throughout Britain.

The book unveils legends of the town, including the origin of its name - from a black pool near the mouth of the River Spen.

Readers can discover why the Rev Harold Davidson spent some time in a barrel on the Golden Mile, and how long it took for the Winter Gardens to shed its genteel image.

More fanciful facts in the book have been included in a full introduction to the archive of photos, which include the first fare-paying street tramway in the country equipped with electric cars being opened in Blackpool in 1885.

The book is one of a series of titles to be published covering towns all around Britain using images from the collection.

Each book also has a free voucher which can be redeemed for a mounted print of one of the photos in the book selected by the reader.

Francis Frith's Around Blackpool is published by Frith Book Company Ltd and costs £12.99.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.