A MAJOR new book from the Daily Echo gives a fascinating insight into the way Dorset has changed – even in the lifetime of its current residents.

Dorset Then & Now is a photographic journey through the county’s changing times.

It features photographs from years gone by alongside the same scenes today. And in a unique twist, the book blends some of the old shots with new ones so that the viewer gets a powerful idea of how individual views have been transformed.

Production of the book began with many hours of research by the Daily Echo Bournemouth’s picture desk assistant, Michelle Luther. She scoured thousands of pictures in the Echo’s extensive library to produce the final shortlist of promising shots.

The Echo’s own collection was supplemented thanks to generous help from a range of sources including the Red House Museum/Hampshire County Council Arts and Museum Services, the Keith Alner Collection, Francis Frith Collection, Gold Hill Museum, Lyme Regis Philopot Museum and Wareham Town Museum. 
The selection of shots covered the whole county, from the busy town centres of Bournemouth, Poole and Weymouth to unspoilt rural scenes, and dated from 1910 to 1993.

The next task was to take pictures of the same views today.

Daily Echo Bournemouth photographers Richard Crease, Corin Messer, Sally Adams and Jonathan Beal were dispatched to recreate the photos, along with Graham Hunt, John Gurd, Finnbar Webster and Rebecca Pressly for the territory covered by the Weymouth-based Dorset Echo.

Richard said: “We tried as closely as possible to get the same vantage point the photographer would have taken them from before.” 

In some cases, buildings or trees blocked the original views, or the original vantage points were no longer available.

And in parts of Poole, the scenes had changed almost beyond recognition – for example, in the area where the newer end of the Dolphin Centre has replaced the Wimborne Road end of the old High Street.

A particular challenge was working out high up the original photographers were when they took some of the pictures, and which lenses they would have used.

One original shot of Poole seemed to have been taken from scaffolding during the construction of Barclays House, requiring the photographer to get as near as possible to the same vantage point today.

Photographer Richard Crease even found himself recreating a shot he had taken more than 20 years earlier. His picture of the twin chimneys of Poole Power Station being demolished in 1993 was one of the more recent ‘old’ photos in the book, and he returned to one of the flats in Sterte Avenue to photograph the view across the harbour today.

Once the final selection of photographs was made, the Daily Echo’s senior multimedia designer John Nesbitt set to work designing the book.

One of his key tasks was to create the unique blends of old and new photographs which are used at the start of each section of the book.

“We relied on the photographs being taken from as close as possible to where the original photographer had stood,” said John.

The blends were created using Photoshop software, with the original photographs painstakingly matched together.

In some cases, a person featured in the older image was kept in the modern scene, or vice versa.

The completed images are among the highlights of a book which is sure to be the talking point of any household which has a copy.

Dorset Then & Now is available for £14.95 from Daily Echo offices in Bournemouth, Poole and Swanage, and from the following shops: Farwells, Wareham. Swanage Bookshop. WH Smith, Castlepoint, Bournemouth, Poole and Blandford. Waterstones, Bournemouh, Poole and Ringwood. DJ Brooking, Parkstone. Gullivers, Wimborne. Westbourne Bookshop. Bookends, Christchurch. 


It can also be ordered for £20.25 including postage from bournemouthecho.co.uk/thenandnow, where you can browse a gallery of photos from the book.