Leighton Buzzard features in Historic England Archive documenting life on the English high street

Images of high street locations in Bedfordshire feature in an Historic England archive which aims to document a year in the life of the English high street.

Leighton Buzzard’s HappyDashery appears in a selection of images in the Picturing High Streets project.

The image of the Leighton-Linslade shop’s colourful display, taken by Carrie Wainer, is entitled 'The Time is Always Right to do What Is Right'. The high street store offers products from local makers, and also hosts a variety of creative workshops.

Meanwhile an old ‘Garlick Bros’ sign advertising the former stone masons in nearby Bedford, taken by Nicola Bailey, is also among the some 200 collection.

All images can now be viewed online in the Historic England archive.

The project is the result of a response to a national call out in 2022, for people to submit their photographs of the high street on Instagram under the hashtag #PicturingHighStreets.

The project has been a partnership between Historic England and Photoworks, helping to build a contemporary picture of England’s high streets through mass public participation and community engagement. It has revealed how important the high street can be as a space for people to come together and connect.

The call out and exhibition marks the final year of Historic England’s High Streets Cultural Programme and the £95 million High Streets Heritage Action Zones Programme which has been revitalising more than 60 high streets across England.

Duncan Wilson, Historic England Chief Executive, said: “We were overwhelmed by the amazing responses from the public and artists to our call out for photographs of high streets across England. Through contemporary photography, people have captured what makes high streets such special places for social connection, revealed the histories hidden behind shopfronts and celebrated the communities that are keeping them alive today. This new national collection is a truly brilliant historic record of high streets today for generations to come.”

the range, depth and historical significance of the images that have been created and that will now enter the Historic England Archive.”