Vintage pictures collection at Darfield Museum

The Then and Now display in the museum’s café-gallery is made up of images from slides produced by the late Alec Clarney in the 1970s and 1980s, which have been digitised and enlarged.

Museum chairman Geoffrey Hutchinson said: “To go alongside them, pictures have been taken from the same viewpoint of the area.

“The change that can be seen in the few short years is quite amazing.”

Mr Clarney was a founder member of the Darfield Amenity Society and former Chief Education Welfare Officer for the West Riding.

Mr Hutchinson added: “He was very keen on the history of the village and after his retirement could often be seen striding round the village with his camera in hand.

“He gave many of his slides to the Museum before his death some years ago.

“We perhaps like to think that the area has not changed but these photographs show how much it has in fact altered, often, but not always, for the good of the village.

“The photographs point out how we need to record in photographs what we have now in the village and take note that photographs that we take now can be of great help to future historians.

“I hope this exhibition will create a lot of comment about alterations in the village.”

The museum on Barnsley Road is open on Saturday from 10am to 2pm and Wednesday from 1pm to 4pm.