A GROUP of enthusiastic social historians are building up a rich photographic history of Droitwich on Facebook, by sharing their images with one another online.

The ‘Pictorial Droitwich Spa’ page was launched 14 months ago on the social networking site by local man Trevor Bennett.

He said: “A friend of mine runs one for Kidderminster and I just liked the idea of it. It’s absolutely amazing how well its taken off.

“It started off originally for photos of buildings new and old, but I opened it up for people to add photographs of anything and it’s just gone absolutely wild. There are people from all over the world with connections to Droitwich; Canada, Turkey, America, Ghana, talking about their parents. It starts with a picture being put on, and then people chatting about that.”

The group has built up quickly to more than 1,500 members and anyone is welcome to join. It’s run entirely by Mr Bennett and two administrative staff who volunteer their time.

He added: “I’m not a photographer, but I started it off. I just went round with a little digital camera photographing different places in Droitwich. I think it’s brought it home to a lot of people how much its changed, and sadly how many of the buildings have disappeared.

“It did start off with buildings and stuff like that, but soon people put pictures of family from years back, so now it’s any pictures that help to build a pictorial directory of Droitwich and the surrounding area. It’s amazing just how it’s taken off.