A MOTHER and son writing team have released a book showing off Lowestoft's history.Old Lowestoft by Elizabeth and Jason Freeman is a 96-page book, full of photographs that help to tell the story of the town from around 1840 to 1920.

A MOTHER and son writing team have released a book showing off Lowestoft's history.

Old Lowestoft by Elizabeth and Jason Freeman is a 96-page book, full of photographs that help to tell the story of the town from around 1840 to 1920.

'The topics that appear include Peto's development, the Religious revivals, the fishing and other related industries, Lowestoft trams, tourism, and Lowestoft's role in the First World War,' said Jason, who lives in East London with his mother Elizabeth.

The two spend a lot of time in the region, as Elizabeth owns a house in Pakefield, and their association with the area dates back many years.

'Our interest in Lowestoft comes from our very long association with it and the surrounding area - in fact this association goes back to at least 1535, when our ancestor William Colby of Lowestoft died,' said Jason.

'We are descended from a number of the Lowestoft fishing families, such as Colby, Hook and Capps.

'We have been coming regularly to Pakefield for holidays all our lives, so we have a great interest in the area, and are really excited to be able to produce a book on the town.'

The book is mainly focused on images, with the text predominantly telling the story behind the photographs.

'A good number of the pictures have not appeared in any other books on Lowestoft. Most of the pictures are from our own collection, but others we borrowed for the purpose of the book,' said Jason.

Amongst the hundreds of photographs in the book are these four images. The front cover shows the lookout tower and fish market at Lowestoft harbour. Next to the water you can see some keen local youngsters enjoying their first taste of fishing. The harbour was open to the public and many boys took the opportunity to fish there during the early 1900s.

The picture of the grounded vessel was taken in 1898. The Adana was stranded ashore at Corton in bad weather and it took several weeks to be dug out and towed back out to sea.

The photograph of the group in front of a pile of barrels features Jason's great-grandfather James Burnet Campbell. Mr Campbell was a fish curer from 1917 and lived in Pakefield together with a number of the Scots girls he employed.

The barrels were used for storing herring, but they also proved a great playground for local children, with hide and seek and climbing popular amongst activities for them.

Old Lowestoft is available from book shops including Waterstones in London Road North, Lowestoft, and is priced at �13.95.