The People’s Archive® · Collection
Home, holidays and everyday life.
A crowdsourced record of life in 1950s Britain, with personal and family photographs from Newcastle and Sheffield to Harrogate, Clacton-on-Sea and Great Yarmouth.
Select a photograph to enlarge and browse the collection.
“My dad Colin (right) and friend Dave on a caravan holiday in Great Yarmouth.”Justine
“This is my grandparent's shop at 29 Guildford Road, Chertsey, Surrey, taken in the 1950s or 1960s. The room to the left was called the 'tea room' when I lived there from 1950-1954, though it was only used for storage. But it must once have been a cafe. The house is an 18th or even 17th century farm cottage that got a nice Georgian front in the 18th century. My grandparents desecrated this by sticking an Edwardian shop onto the front. There was only an outside toilet, next to the scullery, and no bathroom. Demolished for redevelopment in the 1970s.”Paul Duxbury
Britain entered the 1950s with bomb damage, housing shortages and food rationing still affecting daily life. Food rationing finally ended in July 1954. The NHS had opened in 1948, as part of the post-war welfare state, while rebuilding homes and improving living conditions remained major public tasks.
Wages and living standards rose during the decade, but access to decent housing and new household goods was uneven. Television became part of home life. The 1953 Coronation brought neighbours together around the sets that were available, while records, cinema and rock ’n’ roll gave young people new ways to spend their time and money.
Migration from the Caribbean and other parts of the Commonwealth was also changing Britain. People arriving to work and settle built new lives while facing racism and exclusion. Any account of the decade needs room for these experiences alongside the better-known accounts of rising prosperity.
Holidays were changing too. Paid time off made trips possible for more families, with caravans, holiday camps and seaside boarding houses among the options. Clacton-on-Sea and Great Yarmouth appear in this collection. Justine’s photograph of Colin and Dave on a caravan holiday puts names and a family memory to that wider history.
Historical context: The National Archives’ Fifties Britain collection, Life in 1950s Britain and the foundation of the NHS.
The People’s Archive brings personal photographs together with the information that gives them meaning. This selection includes Scotswood in Newcastle, Sheffield in 1955, Harrogate at Easter 1959 and holidays on the Essex and Norfolk coasts.
In Chertsey, Paul Duxbury remembers his grandparents’ shop at 29 Guildford Road: the room still called the tea room, an outside toilet and a home without a bathroom. His recollection is kept with the photograph, including his uncertainty about when it was taken.
The collection grows through contributions from across Britain. Family albums from other towns, cities and communities can add to the record, whether the subject is home, work, school, friendship or a day out.
Community groups and collectives can enquire about hosting a People’s Archive workshop. It is a chance to share local photographs, discuss the people and places in them, and find out how to contribute to the archive.
Ask about a workshopAll Images © The People’s Archive®/British Culture Archive, all rights reserved. No usage or reproduction of any kind without prior permission.
Contribute to The People’s Archive
Do you have photographs from the 1950s in a family album, drawer or box? We welcome personal photographs of everyday life across Britain, with whatever names, dates and memories you can add.
How to contributeRead the submission guidance and terms before sending your photographs.
Clear scans or digital copies of personal and family photographs are welcome.
Include names, locations, approximate dates and who took the photograph, if known. Make clear where details are uncertain.
Find out how to send your photographs. BCA reviews contributions and selects photographs for The People’s Archive.