NOSTALGIA: Boby Bros, Station Works, Station Hill, Bury, c1890 - from the Spanton Jarman collection

Robert and George Boby established their Station Hill Works in 1871-2 on a site previously occupied by Thomas Prentice & Co, timber, slate and coal merchants.

The single-storey building on the left has a stone with the inscription B B 1872. In the trade directories, Boby Bros are listed as beer finning manufacturers (for clarifying beer), malsters and hop merchants. They were also coal merchants from 1908 - 1937 and appear to have ceased trading c1950.

-- -- 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.