The centre of Carlisle has changed over the years.

While on the surface there hasn’t been a lot of transformation apart from the changing of familiar shops and the introduction of pedestrianisation, in reality very few of the buildings on older photographs in the city centre remain.

The old lanes on Scotch Street were knocked down in the late 1970s and early 1980s to make way for the new Lanes development. But careful planning meant that the new shops look very similar to the ones that were replaced.

The earliest photograph was taken in 1958 on the occasion of the visit of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh to the city. It was a rescheduled visit to mark the city’s octo-centenary, the Queen having had to cancel the first one due to ill-health.