Do you know any of the people in these pictures? If so, email emma.glanfield@mailonline.co.uk

Mr Snelling wants to reunite photos with families featured in them and has launched a campaign on social media


The memories may have faded, but these newly-found photos of bygone Britain are so clear they look as though they could have been taken yesterday.

The remarkable collection portrays a forgotten age in the years after the Second World War as the country recovered from the conflict’s heavy toll and learnt to enjoy itself once more.

Old-fashioned shops line streets dotted with classic 1950s and 1960s cars, couples wear their finest clothes as they enjoy an al fresco meal on their patio and children flock in their masses to church for Sunday schools.

Happy as a sandboy: Two women and a young boy enjoy a day out at the beach at Hunstanton, Norfolk in 1960

Other pictures show Heathrow in its earliest days, with passengers boarding a silver British European Airways plane directly from the tarmac.

Another sees a family group enjoying a lazy summer's day in a punt and others show a country fair where a new car can be won for just a shilling.

The slides, which date back to the 1950s and were taken mostly in St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, were among 200 found on eBay by collector Martin Snelling.

He has spent the past six months collecting more than 6,000 retro slides as part of an art project documenting the changing face of Britain.

Al fresco: A couple enjoy a spot of lunch on the patio outside their home on a sunny day in St. Ives in April 1958

March: The Mayor is followed by a procession including a judge and a priest during the annual Mayor's Parade in St. Ives, 1960. The man with the top hat to the right of the vicar has been identified as Jack Bullen, town clerk of St. Ives at the time

Bygone age: The Queen Mother is seen visiting an agricultural show as crowds look and take pictures in this colourful shot from 1960

The amateur photographer regularly picks up boxes of the pictures at auctions and car boot sales but bought the most recent batch of 200 slides for £13 on eBay.

The seller posted two boxes to the amateur photographer but when he opened them up he found nearly all of them were all taken in St Ives.

Believing the pictures were taken by one man named David Bryant, Mr Snelling, 44, launched an online campaign to return the album to its original owner or his descendants .

He has now had contact with Mr Bryant's son, who has said he does not want to be reunited with the images.

Quaint: A woman walks up a road winding parallel to the seafront at Bournemouth in this stunning picture taken in 1958

Early days: A British European Airways flight is boarded by passengers at Heathrow in this colourful photo taken in the late 1950s

Scenic: Passengers casually lean out of the window of a steam train as it snakes through the Welsh hills in September 1958

He did not disclose the reasons behind his decision but told the photographer that he wanted to get rid of the slides and had actually dumped them in a skip.

Mr Bryant's son revealed his father and mother Molly as well as his sister Jane have all since passed away.

Now Mr Snelling is hoping to track down the faces in the photos and reunite them with lost glimpses of their former lives.

Boating: A group of men and women in swimsuits use oars to paddle along the Great Ouse this photo taken in 1960

Artistic: Weathered boats docked in water near a church surrounded by trees at Hemingford Grey on the Great Ouse, near St. Ives

He said: 'There are other families involved who are in the photos and who I would like to get in touch with.

'There was a lot of information on these ones which helped me work out the people involved whereas other ones I collect have very little detail.

'It is a great feeling when you eventually reunite people with these childhood memories and I want to track down the faces in the pictures.'

The father-of-three, from Portchester, Hampshire, added: 'They show a lot of family moments like christenings, weddings and family holidays.

Sunday school: A large group of children gather for church school on a sunny day in Spring in St. Ives, Cambridgeshire in 1958

Commemoration: A group of men march up Market Hill, St Ives, Cambridgeshire, in this picture captioned Battle of Britain Parade, from 1960

Wrapped up warm: A young girl wearing matching red gloves and wellington boots pictures in a garden in St. Ives in 1960

'The colours are amazing and still remain strong. They have been placed in glass and have obviously been in storage which has protected them from the light.'

He added: 'I think I was searching eBay one day because I was in a creative rut. I picked up some slides for about £3 and got addicted.

'I just thought it would be interesting to see how people and places had changed over the past few decades.

'My wife isn't best pleased because the house is now full of boxes of photographic slides.'

Break from the slopes: A group of skiers are seen relaxing and drinking outside a bar in Wengen, Switzerland in 1959

Old-fashioned: A woman cycles along a road passing Bryants gift shop in this photo taken in 1960 in St. Ives, Cambridgeshire

Bargain! A car is offered as a competition prize, entry for which is just one shilling, at a fair believed to have been held at at Kimbolton School, Cambridgeshire. The sign 'help the spastics' is an outdated reference to cerebral palsy sufferers and is no longer acceptable to use

One of the particularly scenic photos was taken from a popular boathouse with upstairs tea rooms and a balcony overlooking the Geat Ouse. The boathouse was built by Ernest Giddins in the 1920s.

After his early death, it was subsequently run by his brother Jack until it was taken over post-war by Jack's son Rodney.

Sadly, the wooden building required major renovation and restoration during the 1970s and the funds were not available to carry out the work so it had to be demolished.

In the late 1950s, a trip out on one of the boats would have cost around one shilling per hour or five shillings for the day.

Pensive: This photo dates back to May 1958 and was captioned as the Bournemouth Round Table Conference

Procession: A group of officials march through the street in front on onlookers during the annual Mayor's parade, St. Ives, in 1960

Dated: A woman walks past Barton Chemist on Bridge Street, St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, in 1960

Mr Snelling bought the slides on eBay on January 2 from a man who found them at an auction in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.

The seller knew nothing of their history so Mr Snelling posted the images on social media, and he now wants to identify the people pictured in the album.

The rest of the St. Ives slides can be viewed at http://www.viewfromthisside.com/

Do you know any of the people in these photos? If so, email emma.glanfield@mailonline.co.uk