Known as the Heart of the Fens, Spalding is a picturesque town set on the River Welland surrounded by rolling farmlands and fields of flowers.

Now a market town, Spalding began as a division town of the fens and marshes of East Anglia, and was founded at the point where a road ran over the low country to the Wash. Spalding has long been famous for being a centre of the bulb industry, and thousands visited each year to see bucketfuls of colourful spring flower heads decorating the town during its annual Spalding Flower Parade until the final one in 2013.

The area’s rich, silty soil has also lead to a thriving vegetable industry, and the town exports its produce all over the country. Spalding is also believed to be the home of the Lincolnshire sausage and was the first place where barcodes were used.

Using a fascinating selection of old and new photographs, Spalding Through Time takes a look at how the town has developed over the past century.