FOR this week's Nostalgia we wanted to take a look at the history of Workington.

The town is one of the most affluent in West Cumbria, with a bustling town centre and a range of shops to visit.

Workington sits at the mouth of the River Derwent and is a historic market and industrial town.

In West Cumbria it has become the main area for shopping.

The old town developed on high ground near Workington Hall and expanded to the south and west as a result of industrial exploitation of local coal and iron ore deposits.

The area quickly expanded into a major port and town, with the first dock operating in the 1760s exporting coal to Ireland.

By 1800s there were around 37 pits located around Workington. The expansion of the mines aided exports which prompted the building of Lonsdale Dock in 1865.

A major shipbuilding industry developed in the wake of the new dock, providing collier brigs for coal exports along with the complementary trades of sail and rope making.

In 1927, the dock was enlarged again, this time to take 10,000-ton ships, and re-named the Prince of Wales dock.

The mines, ironworks and docks were linked by a network of railways that transported the coal and steel to other parts of the country and overseas via the West Coast ports.

With the decline of the coal and steel industries in the 1950s, Workington diversified into light industries. The old iron ore workings and slag heaps were flattened and sites re-landscaped for modern industrial estates and out-of-town shopping centres.

These photos show what life was like in Workington in years gone by, we hope that they bring back some fond memories for some of you.