The changing face of Norwood at the start of the 20th century has been laid out in a unique collection of postcards and photographs of the area.

Author and local historian John Coulter is set to publish his latest book Norwood – A Second Selection, using rare postcards produced more than 100 years ago to illustrate how the area has so dramatically changed.

Mr Coulter, a former local studies librarian at Lewisham library, has a collection of about 1500 postcards of the area, produced predominantly between 1900 and 1912.

He said: "There was a huge craze for them around that time. There was probably a postcard for virtually every road in London.

"People used them like they do an email or text message now – in fact you’ll find them with something like 'I’ll meet you at 4.30pm this afternoon' written on the back."

He added the rise of the telephone following World War One saw the decline of the industry.

The book includes 200 images capturing aspects of life from West Upper and South Norwood, alongside contemporary maps to help establish the geography.

Christmas decorations used to line South Norwood high street, the unveiling of the Clocktower and horse and carriage taxis waiting outside Norwood Junction station are included in the anthology The 60-year-old from South Norwood’s interest in historic postcards began from his work in Lewisham library and he has amassed a collection of about 8,000.

A first collection from Norwood was published in 2002 while the second has taken a decade to collect.

Norwood A Second Collection is published on May 26 and can be ordered from Amazon.

Mr Coulter will be conducting a book signing at Croydon Waterstones on June 16 at 11am.