NOSTALGIA: Beyton Bear, The Green, c1900 - from the Spanton Jarman collection

The Bear public house is in the distance, in this picture taken around the start of the last century.

Right to left was the Bury St Edmunds to Ipswich main road – no longer because of the A14. The large village green has always been a part of village life. In 2013 a vote was taken whether to remove the dwindling numbers of geese from the green and a unanimous ‘no’ was voiced!

-- This picture is part of a remarkable collection of 4,000 photographs in the care of Bury St Edmunds Past and Present Society which offers a glimpse into the town’s history.

Taken by two families of professional photographers, the Spantons and the Jarmans, the images span a period from the 1860s through to the outbreak of World War Two. The fragile glass plate negatives were donated to the society in 1997 and in recent years many of these have been ‘digitised’ thanks to a Lottery grant and donations - a further £2,000 is needed to complete the task. They can be viewed at www.burypastandpresent.org.uk where you can also find details about membership and the group’s programme of events and lectures. The Spanton-Jarman collection is held at the Bury St Edmunds branch of the Suffolk Record Office. For more details about the Record Office, including its programme of talks and courses, visit www.suffolk.gov.uk/sro.