FOR the past 200 years the Gazette & Herald has been a voice of the people and a chronicle of Wiltshire events. At the heart of the newspaper has always been superb picture journalism.

Now to mark out double century the Gazette is publishing Yesterdays - a glossy paperback full of amazing pictures that tell their own story of life in Wiltshire over the past 200 years.

The book is a testament to the many different photographers who have worked for the paper but special mention must go to Colin Kearley who took many wonderful pictures of his own but also painstakingly collected and catalogued many more.

Gazette chief photographer Diane Vose has spent many hours selecting the pictures for the book with the help of freelance photographer Trevor Porter.

Ms Vose said: "I began archiving pictures from the photographic collection kept by Colin six months ago. I initially contacted Marion, Colin’s wife back in November 2015 to locate the collection, which was held at the Wiltshire History centre in Chippenham on the wishes of Colin when he passed away.

"Trevor paid them a visit and they allowed us to access the 22 CD’s which contained thousands of images. The idea for the book was to have chapters for each town in Wiltshire and focus on key events such as carnivals, sporting achievements, military and rural life.

"Searching through thousands of images covering a century in historical Wiltshire life was a daunting task but also very exciting and interesting. Every day a new photograph to view and each picture needed to be captioned and double checked for date and historical accuracy with museums across the Wiltshire area.

"Amongst the pictures in the archive were images that captured a snap shot of life in Wiltshire such as Soldiers heading off to war, country folk harvesting in the fields, royal visits full of grandeur and pomp, scaffolding full of builders with no regard for health and safety."

The book is now available for you to buy priced at £5.95 from our office at 15 Duke Street, Trowbridge, BA14 8EF. A percentage of each sale will go to the Gazette's Julia's House appeal. We have set a target of £100,000 to help pay for the cost of carers for families in Wiltshire with sick children.

A new Julia's House children's hospice is set to open in Devizes next year.