HISTORIAN John Goddard has recorded a town's 20th century for posterity.

Mr Goddard, a founder member of Hyndburn Local History Society and a former borough librarian, has just had a book of photographs published detailing life and event in Accrington this century.

It contains more than 200 black and white pictures showing everything from buildings to people and from events to the war.

"The whole point of the book was to detail this history of the town this century," Mr Goddard said. "There have been so many changes, especially since the 1960s. The book is not for my generation but more for my grandchildren's." Although he was born and brought up in Rossendale, he says he has adopted Accrington.

Mr Goddard, who spent 20 years running a college library and lecturing, writes in the foreword to his book: "I hope that this selection of photographs from the not-too-distant past, when a big mac was likely to be made of wool gaberdine, coke came from the gasworks, grandsons didn't wear their grandad's shirt, only the deaf had aids and if you were well-to-do enough to own a car, you could park it any anywhere, will appeal to that interest and contribute to the history of Accrington."

The book, Accrington, the Archive Photographs Series, is published by The Chalford Publishing Company, priced £9.99.

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