Ever since the invention of the camera, people have been using it to capture the moments and landmarks that matter to them.
Whether a special occasion, or mundane, each preserves a moment in history. As a local newspaper, the Advertiser has many such pictures in its archives, reflecting a specific moment in time from our beginnings in 1858 all the way to today.
Here's just a few pictures from the archives to show how Andover has changed:
The High Street
Pictured in 1897, massive crowds gathered on the High Street to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, who had ruled the British Empire since 1837. It couldn't be more different to today's High Street, which lies largely empty due to the wet weather.
Turning to the side, a pre-WW2 Star and Garter has changed somewhat over the years, though the building remains relatively similar between 1937 and today.
Further up the High Street, this undated picture is clearly before the Chantry Centre, with the old buildings that used to sit on the site still present as women queue up the road.
Rounding the corner into Black Swan Yard, and it was a snowy day next to Freeman, Hardy and Willis when this picture was taken. Today, the sign is gone, and the snow replaced by puddles.
The Angel Inn has been a fixture of Andover for hundreds of years, and so looks relatively similar in these pictures though 50 years have passed. However, you wouldn't catch a car parking inside anymore!
Continuing round the corner and onto Chantry Street, and you catch a glimpse of the people of the past, now lost to history, as with many of the buildings which used to line the street.
At the bottom of Chantry Street, West Street is largely unrecognisable with new buildings have obliterated those seen in this picture from circa 1970.
Heading through the Riverside Park, and you can see in this picture how the Town Mills used to look before Wilko and the viking ship were built.
Heading round the bend, and you come to the former site of Andover Town Station, which closed decades ago. What used to be Sainsbury's, and the road, have now been built over it, but the Station Inn remains as a reminder.
Elsewhere in Andover
Old Winton Road played host to this celebration of Victory in Japan day in 1945, signifying the final end to WW2 after Japan surrendered to the allied forces, with Nazi Germany having already capitulated.
With the construction of Augusta Park and the expansion of Andover, this aerial photo of Icknield Way from 1939 is unrecognisable today, with the same view being filled with urban sprawl.
A solider stands alone in the middle of Millway Road in this picture, which wouldn't be possible today as cars rush up and down.
It's unlikely the residents of Shepherds Spring, then a Victorian favourite for picnics, would have known that over a century later their area would be gone, and that Andoverians would be receiving vaccines against a disease they would never experience.
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