Captured on camera . . . what motoring in Preston looked like in 1956

And pensioner Alison Threadgould has opened up an amazing collection of black and white photographs from 1956 as a tribute to her twin brother Andrew Brown.

Andrew was a 15-year-old schoolboy when he took the pictures with his Box Brownie camera, travelling around town on his bike. Now, almost three years after he died, Alison has brought the treasure trove out of storage to give Lancashire Post readers an insight into how her brother's lifelong passion for photography was born.

"Taking these pictures of cars in 1956 was how it all began for Andrew," explained Alison at home in Ribbleton. "Our dad was a keen photographer too and I think the love of cameras must have been handed down.

"Andrew took all these photos of cars around the same time. He would go out on his bike with his camera, snap what he saw and then come home to develop and print them. He gave me this box of car pictures years ago and I stored them. Now, after he's gone, I think they should go on show as a lasting tribute to him."

Amongst the hoard of pictures is a shot of the Mayor of Preston's Austin Princess limousine, with the prominent CCK 1 numberplate which had adorned the council's mayoral vehicles since the 1930s. There is a picture snapped outside Preston North End's ground of a Bond Mini, an iconic three-wheeler which was manufactured by Sharp's Commercials in Ribbleton Lane, Preston, not far from where Andrew's family lived in Woodlands Avenue. And another print features a classic front-opening BMW Isetta bubblecar with the registration 9FMU.

Many of the photographs were taken around the Winckley Square area of the town centre, but there are cars parked in other locations including outside the former Queens Hotel on the corner of Butler Street and Fishergate.

Andrew was a pupil at Greenlands Primary School in Preston before continuing his education in Lancaster. He went on to become a civil engineer, living in Arnside. His love of photography saw him move from cars onto scenic shots as he travelled around the country with his job, particularly in the Lake District.

"He took photos all the time and he always had his camera with him," said Alison. "He only stopped when he found it difficult to get out. It was a hobby which he loved for a considerable part of his life. He had quite a lot of cameras in the end and had spent an awful lot on a very expensive one which I don't think he ever used.

"I don't know what happened to the rest of his huge collection of photos - I think they're still in the family - but I only have this one box which he gave me and said I could keep. I've had them quite a long time and they've been stored away.

"I don't know what to do with them, but I just thought it would be nice for people to see them. They are of a moment in time when there weren't the number of cars on the streets of Preston that there are now.

"Hopefully they'll be of great interest to a lot of the older generation who maybe remember the cars that are in them. It would be nice to think his first pictures as a 15-year-old are still being enjoyed today more than 60 years on."