Then and Now: 10 pictures of Clacton - you'll be surprised at the difference

The group was founded in October 1985 following the publication of Clacton historian Norman Jacobs’s first book about the resort, called Clacton in Camera.

It marked its birthday with a special exhibition at St James’s Hall, in Clacton, on Saturday.

It included an exhibition of 'then and now' photographs. Here's how things have changed since Clacton over the past Century:

1) Trinity Methodist Church some time between 1881 when the water tower, left hand side at the back, was built and 1887, when the schoolroom was added to the church. Trinity Church was opened in 1877.

and in 2015:

2) A view up Agate Road looking at the Odeon, circa 1950. The Odeon was opened in 1936 and demolished in 1984.

The Odeon site is now an Argos store:

3) The Queen's Head, Great Clacton, around 1900 when the blacksmith's shop was still attached. The rather large gentleman in the centre, Mr Pigg, was landlord and blacksmith.

and in 2015:

4) The original Waverley College when it was a school before becoming a hotel. Photo taken shortly after it was built in 1881. Converted to a hotel about ten years later.

It has now been rebuilt as the Premier Inn:

5) Butlin's holiday camp opened in 1938 and closed in 1983.

Part of the camp is now a council-run car park:

Photos provided by Norman Jacobs (Clacton Local History Society).