A NEW photographic collection showing the history of the original St Hilda's in Middlesbrough has been published by local historian Araf Chohan.

Araf was born in the Boro in 1952, his parents being among the first Asians to settle in the town. He has been collecting postcards and images for 40 years, and his new book concentrates on the first industrial settlement on the banks of the Tees.

It was a small township, built in 1830 on a grid layout, to house the Port Darlington workers. This was the port at the end of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, from which the Pease family and their backers hoped to export south Durham coal to London to make their fortunes.

Very quickly, the settlement spread. It couldn't expand over the Tees, so it went south.

But, from 1846, the railway extended eastwards to Redcar, effectively cutting off St Hilda's from the southward sprawl of Middlesbrough. It became known as "over the border" – originally, this was an affectionate nickname and only in the 1960s, says Araf, did it become synonymous with slums.

Today, St Hilda's is a fascinating area. It still has its issues and dereliction, and it has had many plans put forward for its redevelopment without any of them have come to fruition. But it also has several very fine buildings dating from the earliest days of the railways, and it is looked over by a grand town hall that would love a new use. And now, of course, it is the subject of a book which chronicles the communities who used to live and work in the buildings of St Hilda's.

Middlesbrough St Hilda's by Araf Chohan (DestinWorld Publishing, £12.99)