THERE will be plenty of families scrolling through nativity play pictures on their smartphones in the coming days.

But how do they compare to those of yesteryear?

Above are images from more than half a century ago.

They have been released as part of St Helens Through the Lens, a Heritage Lottery-funded project which aims to engage the public with the George Street Photography Collection – 3,000 digitised images including weddings, portraits, sport, events and factories from the 1950s.

Members of the public can see the display in the Local History and Archives Room at Central Library.

We’ll feature more pictures in the coming weeks.