A LARGE collection of vintage postcards and photocards depicting dramatic flooding in Pickering are going under the hammer this week.

The town was hit by flooding in the late 1920s and early 1930s; the floods of September 1931 were particularly severe following one of the wettest summers on record.

The images of Pickering underwater are being sold alongside other lots of postcards depicting everyday life in Pickering during the early part of the century. The majority of the photographic postcards were taken by Sydney Smith.

Sydney began life as a delivery boy at the Pickering Co-op, but after being shown a pinhole camera he became a fanatical photographer for life.

He set up a photographic studio in the town, and spent his career recording Ryedale - from everyday events to festivals and disasters such as floods and snow. His prolific output is an important record of a lost way of life.

The sale by Tennants Auctioneers will take place on Friday, November 3, in their Leyburn salerooms. For more information, go to tennants.co.uk