Harwich and Dovercourt: The Photographs of Alfred Smith (Old Pond Books)

Harwich, Dovercourt and Parkeston merge into each other on the Essex promontory where the rivers Stour and Orwell flow into the North Sea. They have a long history as maritime and agricultural settlements. From the 1950s to the 1980s Harwich commercial photographer Alf Smith captured the life of the district. David Kindred has selected the cream of the surviving photographs for which local historian Peter Goodwin has provided informative captions. As expected, there are a good number of photographs of the port, shipping and fisheries, Harwich being at one time famous for its shrimping. Other transport scenes include the railway. Harwich street scenes show the town as it was fifty years ago. The past is also recalled in the social pictures: beauty pageants, football teams, events and occasions such as the Queen's visit. The heavy snow of 1963 brought the children out tobogganing. The surrounding region is depicted in farm scenes of potato harvesting, binders and early combine harvesting. The South Goodwin lighthouse appears and pirate radio is a feature of the book. Davis Kindred, whose extensive archive of photographs is a major source of information for Ipswich and the surrounding area, has prepared many photographic books of local interest.