Following an article in yesterdays Eastern Daily Press, I discovered the Norwich “Blitz Ghosts” photographs which have been put together by local amateur photographer and keen historian Nick Stone.
Aylsham Road Blitz Ghosts - Nick Stone 2011
Using photo editing software, Nick has created a truly haunting set of images which merge photographs of the devastation caused by the air raids on the city during WW2 with modern day photographs taken from the same spot as the originals. Whilst highlighting just how much the city landscape was altered by the damage caused, they also provide a very poignant reminder of those who lost their lives during the aerial bombardments. The scenes showing modern apartment blocks with the ghosts of the wrecked terraced housing which once stood in their place, and wartime firefighters tackling blazes against the backdrop of the modern day Marks & Spencers, are very spooky indeed! My thanks to Nick Stone for allowing me to reproduce the photograph above which shows Aylsham Road in April 1942 and 2011. Having struggled enough with some of the Then & Now comparison photos I’ve done for the Broadland Memories website, I can only imagine the effort that must go into putting these together! It is an ongoing project which will hopefully lead to them being published in a book – in the meantime you can view the 45 images which have been produced so far in the Blitz Ghosts set on Nick’s Flickr pages. A Facebook page has also been set up here.
If anyone has any photographs of the Norwich Blitz then please do get in touch with Nick who can be contacted at nick@starfishlimited.com
