Collection creates photographic haven for market town's past

The poetic warning, however, did little to put him off and he arrived in Skipton to take up a post as a school dental officer and has remained there ever since.

A keen photographer, he is often seen out and about with his camera.

Iniitally, he captured his interests – cars and engines, aeroplanes, his family and passing steam trains, and occasionally, the children who attended the local village schools.

But soon his interest in the details of the lives around him had burgeoned and he also started collect old photographs.

Over the years he has built up an impressive collection of hundreds of old photographs, slides and postcards, some of which feature in his latest book, which uses snapshots of Skipton past and present to tell its history.

Now retired Dr Ellwood, 86, is already looking forward to putting another book together and said: "I am always on the lookout for new pictures."

He added: "Somebody brought a photograph in, I had seen a lot of old photographs about and I started copying them. I have always been interested in photography. They give a sense of history."

The book recalls the days when Skipton's High Street could be filled with cattle. One picture was taken on an especially wet day and the street looks decidedly messy underfoot as the combination of cattle, man and the wet conditions, churned up the street.

Dr Ellwood said: "They would bring a few animals down and they would barter between each other. There would be various butchers there and they would buy one and then take it away because in those days they did not go to an abattoir, they were often killed at the butcher's shop.

"To get them there they used to have drovers and they all just milled around the High Street until they were all sold and if they were not sold they were just taken back home again."

Skipton Through Time is an examination of the town, its well-known streets and famous faces throughout the late 19th, 20th and into the 21st century.

It shows historic pictures and compares them with more up-to-date snapshots.

"When you walk into town the High Street does not appear to have changed a lot because if you look upwards at the second storeys they have hardly been changed but its the shop fronts that make all the difference," he said.

One picture shows Lipton the Grocer, with placards outside reading: "No butter like Lipton's: Perfect Quality." Today the shop is an outdoor centre.

Another of Dr Ellwood's passions is flying and the book also features aerial shots of Skipton. One, thought to have been taken in 1949, is contrasted with another aerial shot taken by Dr Ellwood in 2004.

He says he particularly likes some of the older pictures showing people going about their everyday business because it shows how fashion and lives have changed. One image, taken in 1906, shows a charabanc about to leave Brick Hall Hotel with a group of well-dressed men.

There is also a picture of Jack Ward, the blacksmith, taken in the 1970s as Mr Ellwood walked to work. Today, the former smithy, at the bottom of Raikes Road, is a wine shop.

Another snapshot shows a procession, to celebrate the coronation of George V in 1911, crossing Mill Bridge. A more recent photograph shows two of the buildings still being used as public houses, many years later.

Dr Ellwood has written four other books about Skipton using old photographs, including Skipton and the Dales.

His latest book Skipton Through Time is published by Amberley Publishing priced 12.99.

Prosperity built on sheep trade

The name Skipton comes from the Saxon word for sheep and originally the town prospered as a trading centre for the sheep and wool trade.

Before the Norman Conquest it was probably originally just a sheep farm.

Skipton Castle is more than 900 years old and is one of the best preserved medieval castles in England.

Robert de Romille, a Norman baron, built a timber fortress on the site c1090. In 1310 the property was granted to the Clifford family by Edward II, when Robert Clifford was appointed first Lord Clifford of Skipton and Guardian of Craven

Skipton remained the Cliffords' principal seat until 1676.

The town supported the Lancastrians in the Wars of the Roses, and was on the Royalist side in the Civil War. After the battle of Marston Moor in July 1644, Skipton was the only Royalist stronghold left in the North.

The canal basin in Skipton is a busy part of the town and traditional and modern boats can be seen on this stretch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal which winds it way through the centre of the town.

The country market town, with a population of around 16,000, is known as the "The Gateway to the Dales" and it attracts thousands of visitors a year.