Early 1950s retro Preston

Take a look at some of our best archive pictures from early 1950s Preston

Transcript

00:00Hi, my name is Jack Marshall, I'm a digital reporter with the Lancashire Post and welcome

00:04to one of our latest retro roundup pieces. Now, in this kind of quick video, we're going

00:09to just going to give you a quick look at some of our kind of most outstanding, really

00:14interesting, fascinating and insightful retro archive pictures from Preston down the decades.

00:20We're going to do quite a few videos like this, but in this one, we're going to be focusing

00:23on the decade of the 1950s. Now, obviously, as we all know, it was a hugely impactful

00:30and kind of influential period because it was a time when the UK was just coming out

00:34of the Second World War, moving into a more modern age, it was an age where there was

00:40countless developments socially, culturally, technologically, just in so many different

00:44ways. It was a time of serious change and cultural development, really. So it's fascinating

00:50to go back in time and look at what Preston, the city we all know so well, the city which

00:55many of us will call home, which we love to see what it looked like, you know, some 70,

01:0075 years ago at this point, it's absolutely fascinating to get that kind of insight. So

01:05yeah, without keeping you waiting for much longer, let's take a look at some of the most

01:08outstanding pictures from that era. So from 1950 to 1953, the UK was emerging from the

01:14post war years, and really embracing a period of social change and optimism. It was an area

01:20an era marked by the continued recovery from World War Two with new housing developments,

01:24economic growth, a focus on rebuilding communities, and that all culminated in the Festival of

01:29Britain in 1951, which celebrated national achievements and heralded a modern vision

01:35of the future, which is really focused on bringing people together and embracing a new

01:38cultural identity after the war. Now, culturally, generally, if the early 50s saw a rise in

01:44cinema and radio as popular pastimes, British rock and roll was starting to take shape influencing

01:48youth culture. And then obviously, there was a coronation of Queen Elizabeth the second

01:52in 1953, which was a defining national event watched by millions across the country. Now,

01:58as you can see from these pictures, they really give you a glimpse into life in the UK and

02:02Preston during this period from family gatherings and street scenes to local events and sporting

02:07moments. The pictures capture the spirit of a community rebuilding and looking forward

02:12to a brighter future.