Park life then and now: 11 pics of Lancashire's beloved parks from bygone times as modern day project is launched

The Historic England Archive holds thousands of images of parks and gardens across England, including a collection of historic public park postcards from the Nigel Temple Collection.

Nigel Temple (1926-2003) was an artist, postcard collector, antiquarian and an authority on garden design. His largest and most important collection of postcards showcase public parks and gardens, including sites from across Lancashire.

The Historic England Archive are sharing his postcards – which feature Preston’s Avenham Park and Moor Park, Fylde’s Ashton Gardens, Blackpool’s Stanley Park and Lancaster’s Williamson Park to name a few – as they hope to inspire modern people to take part in a reimagining project.

The Missing Pieces Project: Uncover hidden histories and highlight overlooked stories

This summer, Historic England are inviting people to add a new perspective to these unique heritage viewpoints, helping to tell the story of change and stability across our historic parks.

Members of the public are being asked to add their own story about their local historic park or garden to the Missing Pieces Project. This could be a new photo, drawing, film, audio or text depicting the site as it is now, sharing memories of enjoying time there or sharing something you know about its history.

Rachel Prothero, Historic England Head of Content, said: “The Nigel Temple Collection of postcards gives us a wonderful snapshot of a moment past in some of the beautiful parks and gardens to be found across the country. We’d love for people to add their photographs of the same locations so we can see how these cherished landscapes look today and add to their story.”

What to do:

-Find a location near you on the map

-Click on the location marker to find a link to the Parks and Gardens Register entry, including a postcard from the Nigel Temple Collection.

-Take a photo of the same view the next time you visit.

-Upload it to the Missing Pieces Project and add your unique piece of the picture

You can see some of Historic England’s favourite ‘then and now’ contributions so far for inspiration here.

Old images of Lancashire’s parks

To inspire you, take a look at images of parks from across Lancashire in years gone by.

Historic England’s Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England was established 40 years ago, in 1983 and now features over 1,700 sites. It includes gardens, public parks and other planned open spaces such as town squares, cemeteries and hospital landscapes.

Discover more about our historic parks and gardens here.