OLD black and white photographs came in handy when renovations were being planned for two shops in Barnoldswick town centre.

Architects working for the local Tending the Town scheme used Victorian snaps of Newtown, taken during Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 1897, as a guide for a variety of grant-funded improvements at The Lighting Shop and Shambles Discount Store.

The photos were found by one of the local shopkeepers and work started in December and included door replacements, rebuilding of chimney stacks and the installation of new front windows.

At the completion of the scheme this week, there was time for new picture poses outside the renovated premises.

David Morris, Pendle Council's conservation and environmental improvement officer said: "We found the old photographs very useful indeed.

"We wanted to renovate the shops in traditional Victorian style and these pictures gave us an accurate impression of the appearance of the buildings in their heyday."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.