ALTHOUGH dated 1904, the decorations suggest that this picture of Church Street, Darwen, was probably taken two years earlier - at the time of King Edward VII's Coronation.

The Manchester and County Bank on the corner with Market Street at the left is now the National Westminster.

At the right, on the corner with Bridge Street, is the Millstone Hotel.

Next door, is a barber's shop and, just beyond, the shop of chemist William Henry Lomax while, at the other end of the building, near where a horse and cart stand, a sign at first-floor level indicates the headquarters of Darwen Cycling Club.

Meanwhile, further up the street, in the vicinity of the Central Conservative Club, some work at the top of a ladder is attracting attention.

More flags fly from the tower of Holy Trinity Church, which was built in 1827-29 with a parliamentary grant of £6,799 from the £1 million fund set up the government in thanksgiving for the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo.

The public clock was added to the tower in 1878 and Holy Trinity changed its name to St Peter's in 1974 when the parish was merged with those of St John and George.