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Photo call from the decade that grooved

1/ 7/2008

IN THE early 70s, midi skirts, hot pants, flares, platforms, paisley patterns, winged collars and white plastic boots were considered to be far out.

Touchstones Rochdale is now exploring some groovy fashions of that period and work-life as part of a Step into the 70s photographic exhibition.

One of the photographs is of 20-year-old Ann Wilson at work as a petrol pump attendant in 1971 at Henley's Jaguar garage in Princess Park Way, Manchester.

According to the AA petrol was 34.25 pence per gallon in 1971, compared with the near £6 a gallon we now pay today.

Ann said: "It was my job to serve drivers with petrol when they visited the garage - there was no such thing as self-service back then. Petrol was served by the gallon and while I filled the tank the driver would go into the garage to pay."

Julian Jefferson, the arts and heritage manager for Link4Life, said: "Photographs bring memories to life as well as being an evocative snapshot of times past. Whether they depict long-lost relatives or how an area has changed photographs are an essential resource for the family and local historian."

You can see more photographs on display as part of the Step into the 70s exhibition, which continues in the Heritage Gallery until 28 September.

The Local Studies Centre welcomes the donation of photographs and particularly wants modern photographs especially from the 1970s.

Contact the centre on 924915 to arrange for your photograph to be scanned so that you can keep your original photograph if you prefer.