We’re all used to seeing pictures of the past in stark black and white but now for the first time there’s a chance to see how the past really looked. Our new series takes applies a colourisation process to some familiar scenes in towns in Wales and the borders and transforms them into glorious colour.

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STANDING in the middle of the road and waiting for the arrival of the modern world was once a popular pastime, particularly in sleepy Crickhowell where nothing much ever happened. These three lads standing patiently but without much hope, (Powys will do that to a soul), were probably looking forward to one day popping outside of their house and popping to a superstore where they could buy everything they needed under one roof. Or maybe perhaps they were dreaming of the day when a fast food giant would open in their neck of the woods? Don’t hold your breath lads, but one day your town will win the best High Street in the UK title. Proving life without burgers is not all bad! (Abergavenny Musem )
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JUST check out these Bohemians! They’re like a rhapsody in blue, or as the case may be - colour! Way back in Monmouthshire during the 1920s, when dandies and flappers weren’t busy pretending they were characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “This Side of Paradise” they liked to strut the Charleston and listen to all that jazz. And in Abergavenny, they were none better at blowing the horn, beating the drum, and tinkling the ivories than the Bohemian Jazz Orchestra. Their shilling hop at the Swan Hotel was once all the rage. Their drummer William Shackleton would later go on to be better known as the town’s chemist. (Abergavenny Museum )
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WE now turn our attention to a time when Brylcreem was all the rage. Moisturising and manipulating your hair without making it look greasy, was once a popular pastie, or should that be pastime, before Botox, fake tans, and crap tattoos, showed us just what was possible. Check out these enthusiastic egg-chasers. There’s hardly a dry head amongst them. And nor should there be. This picture represents a pivotal moment in Lydney’s sporting heritage. We’re talking the 1940s here and featured are the first ever Lydney Old Grammarians side to go head to head with Lydney Rugby Club in a tussle that was to become an annual fixture through to the 1950s. (Tindle News)