Old photos provide window to the past

HE couldn't believe his eyes!

When Dave Catling opened The Evening Star he suddenly was transported back to his childhood thanks to a collection of old black and white photographs.

The precious snaps which captured life in Holbrook in the 1950s - and Mr Catling in his youth - were put up for auction after they were found by chance in Lincolnshire.

So moved was he, that Mr Catling, 65, put in a successful £100 bid for the special images and is now looking forward to pouring over his history.

Mr Catling, who lived in the Suffolk village until last year when he moved to Monmouth Close in Ipswich, said: “It was a nice surprise to see the pictures.

“It brought back lots of memories and made me think about the old times and the fun we had when we were that age.”

Mr Catling, who has two children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild, said he would have been between 11 and 14 when the pictures were taken with friends from the Holbrook Firecrests, the village church's Scouting group.

He added: “They were good times but after a lot of the people moved away I lost contact with them and I just forgot about those times until I saw the pictures.

“I'm really pleased that I got the pictures, there will be a lot to go through now.”

The lot includes a collection around 200 photographic images, negatives and magic lantern slides, shot by Tony Lodge, a former Scout leader from Holbrook in the 1950s.

Mr Lodge moved to Lincolnshire in the 1960s, along with his collection, but it re-emerged when his house was being cleared out after he moved into a care home.

Did you feature on the images? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.

1950s

While Dave Catling was enjoying his time in the Holbrook Firecrests there was a lot happening in the rest of the world, including:

Korean War

Suez Crisis

The European Common Market was set up

Cuban Revolution