Welcome to this my eighth book in the "Around" series, which has been brought out in conjunction with its sister book "Oldland and the Surrounding Parishes." and is designed to replace Oldland Then & Now which was first published in 1996. As the title describes, the earlier book compared certain views of the village at the beginning and end of the twentieth century, whereas in this book I have included many more older pictures, the majority of which have not previously been published, or certainly published in this format. Scattered in between those pictures are photographs taken during the 1980's a decade that has already become part of our history, but is close enough for the younger generation to have a chance to reminisce. Hopefully the reader will see from this book that a considerable part of Oldland at the start of the twentieth century has hardly changed, but with the growth of the area over the past forty years or so, there are parts of the village that today are totally unrecognizable with Oldland of eighty years ago. Probably the most noticeable change that has taken place to the whole village is the amount of traffic either parked along the streets, or rushing through without a second glance. The clock cannot of course be put back, but on enclosed pages it will be possible for you to take a glimpse of the slower pace of life once enjoyed by our forbearers and to see how, despite their poverty, how proud they were of the area in which they lived, no rubbish or litter thrown away for all to see, no graffiti, neatly trimmed hedgerows, and an absence of excessive street furniture that now adds to the overall statute vandalism that blights our environment.
In producing this book I have arranged for it to link in with my "Around Bitton" to the south, "Longwell Green ~ Our Village" to the west, and "Around Kingswood" and Around Warmley" for the other points of the compass, and these and all my books are highly recommended for those who are interested in a wider area of this corner of South Gloucestershire.
Price £7.00
ISBN: 0-9545117-6-X
