In the very centre of our photo is the much-missed Railway Hotel, a town centre pub which was always busy with both regulars and passers-by.

The Railway Hotel was built at 19 to 23 Railway Street in 1848, at a time when Queen Victoria ruled half the globe and Nelson had a population of around 2,350.

By the time of the Edwardian era, the town had almost 40,000 inhabitants, most of them working in the cotton mills running a Herculean 55,000 looms round the clock.

The Railway Hotel, along with the Lord Nelson Hotel and the Engineers Arms, were the busiest hostelries in town and others included the Albert Arms, the Borough Hotel and the New Inn.

The Railway Hotel, as with the later Station Hotel, were both built to accommodate passengers to Nelson via the steam railway which came in 1849.

Of these two fine Victorian hotels, the Railway was sadly demolished in 1959, whereas the Station still survives today as an extremely busy establishment.

On the far left of our picture is a glimpse of one of Nelson's most iconic buildings, the now legendary Sunbeck milk bar at 1 Hibson Road. This was for many years the Nelson Ice Company Café – until the early 1950s and the advent of rock and roll. With an American-style jukebox plus delicious milkshakes and frothy coffee, the Sunbeck became the in place for locals young and old.

But as the swinging '60s erupted on the scene, the planners moved in to destroy the heart of old Nelson to build the somewhat prosaic Arndale Centre. Gone forever were the Railway Hotel, the Sunbeck Milk Bar, the General Post Office – and not forgetting Ralph Mason tripe dressers, Adam's Stores, Pickard's outfitters and the Arabian Coffee Co. Ltd.