Acton Through Time

In the early 1800s Acton consisted of a small group of houses around the church plus a small farming community at East Acton and some farm dwellings. A hundred years on and the population had grown, and heavy industry and laundries flourished. Today they too have gone, replaced by light industry and the media business. The quiet lanes and byways that were used by horse-drawn carriages, coaches and trams are now busy thoroughfares full of cars, buses and lorries.This is David and Amanda Knights’ first book of old pictures of Acton. It has a wide collection of images, including two rare early engravings from 1794 and 1809. These are combined with postcards and photographs from the late nineteenth, early twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This stunning collection of visual material is paired with informative captions to trace the growth of this vibrant London suburb.