THIS photograph from the archive was originally taken to show the changing landscape around Mill Hill.

It was published in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph in August 1966 to illustrate a story about a 14-acre site off St Aiden’s Avenue which had been earmarked for a new housing development by Blackburn Corporation.

Some 86 houses and three blocks of 16-storey flats were part of the plan.

The three pairs of demi-detached houses in the photo were privately owned and were situated in the middle of the site. The plan was to build the new development around them.

The proposed ‘skyscraper flats’ would be more than twice the height of the building on the skyline - the recently completed extension to Blackburn Royal Infirmary on Bolton Road.

To modern eyes what is also interesting are the number of mill chimneys reaching into the sky you can see.