Steve Nicholas — born in Llandaff North and now living on Whitchurch’s Church Road — just wanted to learn how to build a website in 2003. He loved old photographs, and his home. So he took the two subjects and built www.whitchurchandllandaff.co.uk, a place to chronicle the past of the areas. Now, he’s about to publish his third book: Whitchurch and Llandaff North Through Time.
“It’s just a hobby,” Steve said. A hobby that has amassed roughly 1,500 photographs and earned him kudos as an historian of his home town.
Steve began by posting some collections of old photographs to his website. Then friends and family began to give him their own. He created a map showing where the places were before Google maps became ubiquitous. People from around the world found his site. Then, in 2005 Steve decided to take up an offer to publish a book with History Press, then known as Tempest.
Whitchurch and Llandaff North was published in 2005. Then again, he published a followup in Whitchurch & Llandaff North Revisited this year. Both books feature pages and pages of black-and-white pictures, categorised in chapters such as “Out and About”, “School Days”, “Sporting Life”, among others. The captions tell the stories of the place, many detailed with names of every face.
In a few week’s time, Whitchurch and Llandaff North Through Time will roll off the press — in colour. The book shows change in the areas, juxtaposing old photographs alongside snapshots from 2010.
As the site continues to grow its photographic archive, Steve reflects on what it has become to the people who use it: “It’s a trip back home without getting on a plane.”
To purchase Steve’s books, visit his website, www.whitchurchandllandaff.co.uk.
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