A presentation of photographs showing the changing face of Castletown in recent decades will be given by Tony Brown

Most of the 200 images are taken by Tony, who showed great foresight at a young age in capturing the changes taking place around him.

The earliest were taken in 1970, when he was a youth worker and star of the disco scene as Hovis the DJ. He continued to take a record when he was an electrician, a commissioner in the town from 1976 and running his shop from 1981 to 2010 and as town MHK from 1981.

’I have an interest in this and I noted the time and date on the back of all the photos I took,’ he said. ’I was 20 when I started taking them. There are thousands of images.’

The presentation, entitled ’A changing Castletown during my time shown through photographs’, takes place at the Civic Centre on Wednesday, June 26 from 7.30pm.

It also includes photos from the 1930s to 1960s showing the areas, businesses and buildings in town. They give a unique and wonderful insight into how the town has changed over the decades.

Tony has given the talk in the past and is repeating the exercise in response to popular demand.

They show the town and most of its inhabitants have experienced improvements in housing and general living conditions. ’There are areas like Mill Street and the back of the old Grammar School which have been redeveloped, in the 1970s it was tarmaced,’ he said.

’Castletown was no different to anywhere else, old houses had no inside toilet or bathroom. The photos also show changes in how harbours are used.’

Some may provoke non-visual senses such as the smell of burning hops from the town brewery. ’The worst was from the gas works, it smelled like sulphur,’ he said.

It includes photos not included in a similar presentation in March.

Admission (£1) includes refreshments, with proceeds to the Castletown and District Over 60s Club.