JACK Marriott, of Carlton, near Stockton, has given a vast collection of photographs, possibly worth £10,000, to Stockton Council, which is exhibiting some of them at the Green Dragon Museum.

Mr Marriott ran his own photographic business and took thousands of photographs of Cleveland's engineering workshops, shipyards and businesses over the years.

He also took landscape shots and his favourites are those showing Stockton's old High Street. Now retired, he has given all his negatives to the council.

Born in Sheffield, Mr Marriott grew up in Stockton and attended the secondary school before becoming a photographer. He employed three staff and had offices inside a dignified Victorian building at Varo Terrace. Famous engineering firms among his clients included Davey Ashmore McKee and Smith's Dock.

"Between the two world wars and afterwards, a lot of industrial work was for engineering catalogues or for hanging in boardrooms. But things developed and I gradually did lots of sales literature and promotional material.

"Some of the most interesting work was preparing audio-visual presentations with slides, sounds and graphics. We were involved in the whole process, from using a camera to processing films, black-and-white and colour."

He enjoyed taking photographs for local authority year-books, which meant getting out and about to numerous locations, but his favourite photographs are of Stockton's old High Street.

"I always come back to those pictures. The Castlegate area was a very, very important place before it was ruined with the shopping centre. The most historic buildings were pulled down," he said.

Speaking about his donation, he said: "I have handed over all my negatives to the council. Historically, they'll increase in worth as the years go by. It would have been criminal if they were accidentally thrown on to a bonfire or something like that. People are beginning to realise the value of history.