A FIRST look at a remarkable photographic treasure trove of village life in South Cumbria is in store for history enthusiasts tomorrow night.

The Wednesday meeting of Millom and District Local History Society, from 7.30pm in the Queen Street Methodist Church, features an illustrated presentation by Stephe Cove on the work of  photographer Harry Moore, from Hallthwaites, near Millom.

Our pictures feature a few of Moore’s postcards and views from The Mail archive of Thwaites and the Green at the kind of events the photographer would have covered in the modern era.

A collection of more than 400 glass plate negatives produced by Mr Moore has been scanned, digitised and catalogued by Mr Cove.

Moore photographs cover Edwardian times into the 1930s and he produced many postcards of local scenes.

This collection of his work includes village scenes, portraits, Millom, the Duddon Valley, animals and people at work.

He produced a wide range of picture postcards which would have been sold in village shops and post offices on the outskirts of Millom.

Some show churches, schools and houses while others featured sporting teams and important social events such as fetes and flower shows.

Many would be posted by visitors; sent to relatives living far from the Millom area; or carefully placed in postcard albums at a time when few people had access to a camera.

Harry was born in September 1888 and among the people he took photographs of was his brother Birkett – a flying officer in the First World War.

They were members of the Moore family, woollen merchants and blanket weavers at Hallthwaites for more than 100 years.

Examples of the blankets can be seen in a display at the Millom Discovery Museum.

People are invited to bring their own Moore postcards to the history society meeting.

Researchers are keen to know more about how a rural photographer produced cards and about the equipment used to produce his glass negatives.

Millom and District Local History Society monthly meetings are always friendly with enthusiastic local historians - and if you bring someone aged between 12 and 18 with you, admission is free.

Fairtrade refreshments are served at every meeting.