THE Lancashire Telegraph’s picture archive is a fantastic record of life in the 16 towns and dozens of vibrant communities that make up our region.

Tens of thousands of images have been collected since this newspaper was born in 1886 thanks to the inspiration of Thomas Ritzema who was passing through East Lancashire on the train and decided the area had to have a daily newspaper.

Today to celebate our 125th anniversary year we are bringing you the second of a series of special picture supplements highlighting different aspects of our history.

Happiness is the theme by which we mean moments when people put the everyday grind on the back burner to celebrate, help others, do something different or share a memorable occasion.

The further back you go the less likely folk were to smile in pictures because photography was a serious, and slightly daunting business with all the paraphernalia involved.

But events like the coronation of Edward Vll in 1901, the end of the Boer War in 1903 and Darwen’s first wedding using a car in 1904 all brought smiles to faces.

We’ve tried also to capture the sheer delight in a whole range of life including school days, sports highlights, festivals and galas, royal visits and award presentations.

In addition we show how cold weather can prompt crazy antics in the ice and snow and how men, women and children have become past masters at doing all kinds of daft things to raise badly-needed charity cash which will help those less fortunate.

We hope you enjoy our look on the bright side!

Pick up a copy of the Lancashire Telegraph newspaper today to see the 24-page picture special. If you would like to buy a photo you have seen in the supplement, click on the link below.