PEELING back the fabric of time to see how Christchurch looked in days gone by, a fascinating new exhibition at the Red House Museum captures a town that is at once familiar and yet strangely distant.

Christchurch – Then and Now: Through the Lens draws on the museum’s collection of more than 50,000 photographs that date back to the 1860s to present different views of familiar locations and how they have been updated through the decades.

Many of the images come from large collections inherited from local historian and freelance photographer Allen White and former press snapper Roland Adams.

“Allen White was a keen collector of historic images and also had an interest in archaeology so he had some aerial images as well,” says Red House curator Stephen Lowy. “Many of the Roland Adams images are from the 1960s, 70s and 80s, some of which would have appeared in the old Christchurch Times.”

Both collections contained around 10,000 images, many of which have now been digitised by some of the 50 volunteers at the Red House, which attracts between 20,000 and 30,000 visitors a year. The images for exhibition were selected by a team of volunteers and staff and have been labelled with points of interest.

The entire collection has been indexed by location and members of the public are able to access that index in the museum’s resource room, or make requests for information to the museum, which are researched by volunteers.

Exhibitions like this are always very popular as people love to see how the area looked in times gone by and in the case of more recent photos to be reminded of the town they once know.

“Images from the very earliest days of photography are particularly fascinating because they’re generally of very good quality so you can see familiar landmarks but you notice other things such as the roads are not made up. I like the pictures from the 1970s because although they look like the town of today what has changed is very subtle – there are fewer cars around, the street furniture is completely different, the shops have changed.

“It’s still Christchurch, but different.”

:: Christchurch – Then and Now: Through the Lens can be seen Tuesday to Saturday from 10am at the Red House Museum & Gardens until April 29. Free admission. All images are published with the permission of Hampshire Cultural Trust.