You may remember George Shepherd our favourite Eccles photographer who held a record breaking photographic exhibition at Eccles Community Art Gallery in May 2019 that was viewed by several thousand people, well we have even more good news about him for you. The amazing thing about the Eccles exhibition was that his daughter, Angie was aware that her father George was a keen amateur photographer and when she heard that he was about to chuck out his collection of negatives from 1963 - 1980 into the bin after being stored in a box in his bedroom, thankfully she sprang into action. As we know, now they were saved for posterity which led to not only the Eccles Art Gallery show but George having an exhibition at Salford Museum and Art Gallery in 2021 and many of the images were purchased by the British Cultural Archive. You can imagine my delight when last night, Angie sent me over four, colour photographs that George had taken in the early 1960s which had never been seen before. She has since informed me that she has discovered several hundred colour prints and negatives showing everyday life in Eccles and Patricroft from 1950s right up to the year 2000 and will share some with me when she has finished collating them. This is fantastic news, George who will be 90 at Christmas is a true gentleman. a dapper dresser in a shirt and tie, I think the world of him, and these newly discovered photos will surely merit an exhibition of their own in a local gallery and then one of the major galleries surely? I also doff my cap to Angie for saving these photos from the bin, they are rare social documents showing all aspects of life, work and leisure in the Eccles and Salford area and I can't wait to see more of them!
