A PHOTOGRAPHER hopes to shed light on Newport’s history with his new book showing the changing face of the city.

Jan Preece has been taking pictures of the Newport since the 1960s. During this time he amassed a huge library of pictures, some of which are published in ‘Newport Through Time’ alongside many from earlier times.

“I've been working on the book for a long time.” he says. “My picture library has been growing and I wanted to do something with it that was more than just captioning the images. I've got something to say about these pictures.”

He has done this by arranging pictures of the present alongside how the scene looked in days gone by with sparky commentary.

The view of Newport station from the early 1970s (or Newport High Street station as it was then known) depicts cars cheek-by-jowl with lorries and a steam engine. This lively scene Jan contrasts with the present day view of the station which he says looks like a "cartoon mushroom".

“I wanted to show the vibrancy that Newport had and the neighbours who lived, worked and played in the same street. What people forget about Newport is that there were factories behind houses, whole industries.”

Jan, who grew up in Pill during the 1950 and 60s, says the urge to highlight overlooked parts of the city’s history also inspired him to write the book.

“There is a picture in the book of an area called ‘Jack's Pill’ on the bank of the Usk from the late 1800s which epitomises Newport at that time. It was a thriving community with all manner of trades and activities - fishing for instance as well as the docks.

“The river bank almost touches the terraces of houses. It shows an exciting part of Newport's history that is often disregarded. It is a portrait of a way of life that has been forgotten.”

He firmly believes this is important to remember: “Many cities have nurtured their heritage but we haven't. Unless you look at the past you don't know where you are going.”

Newport Through Time’ is published by Amberley Publishing and is priced £14.99.