Snapshots of Westbury through time captured in new book

A NEW book which shows Westbury through the ages via photographs has been published by a local woman. 

Elizabeth Argent, who lives in Westbury and is also the secretary of Westbury Heritage Society, has produced ‘Westbury Through Time’.

The book compares photographs of places in present day Westbury, against photographs from days gone by. The photographs trace some of the many ways in which Westbury has changed and developed over the last century. Places covered in the book include the White Horse, the Town Hall, swimming pool and Westbury Station, as well as images of former venues such as the cinema and old shops.

Elizabeth said, “I had several contacts, and we had a lot of photos in the Heritage Centre, so I was able to get quite a lot of images together. The difficulty was choosing which ones to use. And then of course there were some places I couldn’t find anything of at all.

“We’ve got old photos in the Heritage Centre that people often want to buy, but we can’t sell them, so I felt this was a useful follow up to that.

“I learnt a great deal in the process of putting the books together. What was very interesting was going up into Leighton House, I’ve lived near it and not known what it was like!”

‘Westbury Through Time’ is available from the Heritage Centre in the High Street, or other shops in the area.