HISTORIC Dartmouth and the surrounding area have been brought to life in a publication of original Victorian and Edwardian photographs – many possibly never published before.

Author Andrew Gill has collected the images, mostly glass, ‘magic lantern’ projection slides, for more than 40 years.

Using these images and text from Victorian guide books, he has created a series of booklets through which he says he aims to bring to life some of our most important towns and cities, as they were 100 or more years ago.

‘In the second half of the 19th century, Devonshire was a popular tourist destination, made accessible to all by expanding the railway network,’ said Andrew, who lives in Lancashire.

‘Detailed guide books, such as Black’s Guide to Devonshire, were available to help visitors make the most of their stay.

‘Black’s was updated each year and included historical facts about local towns and villages, where to stay, what to see and excursions of interest.’

Victorian Brixham and Dartmouth through the Magic Lantern contains text from Black’s published in 1883 and 24 photographs taken from magic lantern projection slides of the two coastal towns and HMS Britannia, Royal Navy Training Ship, owned by the Keasbury-Gordon Photograph Archive.

Andrew believes the majority of the photographs, taken between 1880 and 1910, have probably not been published before.

‘The Black’s Guide text and the photographs complement each other and enable us to travel back in time to this delightful corner of Victorian Britain,’ said Andrew. ‘I hope you enjoy the journey.’

The booklet can be purchased on Amazon and is available as a printed book for £4.99 and an ebook for Kindle at £2.99.

More pictures in Friday’s Chronicle