Ashton-under-Lyne - usually shortened to Ashton - is a town in the foothills of the Pennines, some six miles east of Manchester. There has been a township on the site since the Middle Ages, and the area saw much expansion and development during the Industrial Revolution. Ashton, traditionally part of Lancashire, is, today, the administrative centre of the metropolitan borough of Tameside. The town has witnessed many changes over the past century, some of which are captured in this volume.

Archive images and full-colour modern-day photographs, taken from approximately the same location, are used to compare and contrast the Ashton of yesterday and today and to put on record some of the faces of this constantly evolving modern town.