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CHOCOLATE BOX: Three girls, very possibly the Hillier daughters, stand outside Orchard Cottage, while a man walks towards the camera

A REMARKABLE set of photographs, taken by the village blacksmith in Bishops Cannings, near Devizes, paints a picture of what life was like at the turn of the 19th century.

The glass photographic plates were found in the former forge of Albert Hillier, who not only ran the blacksmith's but also had a smallholding and owned the village shop.

Fittingly, Mr Hillier would have taken the pictures on a bellows camera.

The plates were discovered and renovated by his grandsons, John and Colin Hopgood.

Colin Hopgood, a former mayor of Devizes, said: "I remember how he loved photography but we had no idea where all the plates had gone until John discovered them in the old forge.

"With the help of Colin Kearley, the Gazette's former chief photographer, we had them printed up and we are delighted at the results.

"I think it is a wonderful view of a world that no longer exists."

Despite his many different business enterprises, Mr Hillier still had time to pursue photography as a hobby.

WEDDING DAY: Mr and Mrs Hillier and their wedding guests

He even took his own wedding photographs and he and his wife are pictured with their wedding guests.

There is also a picture of Mr Hillier in the line-up of the Bishops Cannings football team in 1897/98. He is pictured in the centre of the group and would have taken the picture himself using a timer mechanism.

Mr Hillier began his working life working for Mr Bishop, the carter, and there is a picture of some of the workers at Mr Bishop's workshop, which Mr Hillier later took on as his forge.

Mr Hillier's job was making the metal rims for the wheels, so it was a natural progression for them to become a blacksmith.

Mr Hillier then took over the premises of the Wells family, who made agricultural machinery, but not before he took a photograph of them in their yard. Bishops Cannings is one of the prettiest villages in Wiltshire and Mr Hillier made good use of his local landscape.

There is a stunning picture of Orchard Cottage, next to the school, which was formerly owned by a well-known jockey and a relative of the BBC sports presenter Clare Balding.

Mr Hillier also made good use of the spire of the village church, St Mary's, to get panoramic shots of the village, which has changed quite considerably since he took the pictures around 100 years ago.

But, like most photographers, Mr Hillier used his own family as models for his studies.

There is a delightful shot of his daughters - Hilda, Marjorie and Ethel - in a horse-drawn carriage. The name of the boy leading it is not known.

3:54pm Wednesday 7th May 2008

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